Transformers: The Real Story
by FLASHFAN123
Summary: You've seen the cartoon, now learn what really happened to the Transformers that caused them to come to our planet. Rated PG-13 for some language and suggestive themes. I do not own Transformers. Some [Goldbug x Arcee] pairing {[(DISCONTINUED)]}
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Beginning.**

* * *

Many millions of years ago, on the distant planet Cybertron, an intelligent race of mechanical beings existed. These beings could think and feel like we can, only they had the unique ability to change their physical forms into vehicular forms. For a time they lived in harmony, until the mission set about by lineage of the Primes was forgotten, and the sworn leaders of Cybertron became corrupted and evil. Eventually, the Matrix of Leadership, the ultimate symbol of leadership, would no longer accept those chosen by Cybertron's High Council, and was lost to the very core of Cybertron. Despite this, individuals were still chosen to lead Cybertron, in more and more corrupt and selfish methods, leading to an unequal caste system. Until, finally, two distinct Cybertronians of the lower caste system recognized this flaw. These young Cybertronians were the historical archivist, Orion Pax, and the gladiatorial champion, Megatron. Orion and Megatron would eventually meet, and agree to confront the High Council to give their testimony. As Orion and Megatron conversed with one another, a brotherhood began to form between the two, seeing each other as if they truly were brothers. As the two friends finally felt they had obtained all they needed, Megatron and Orion made their way to the High Council, and it was here that they showed their true colors. Megatron decreed that to ensure equality for all life on Cybertron, they would need to destroy their high caste oppressors by force, and arrogantly demanded to take Sentinel Prime's place as leader of Cybertron. Orion, however, felt differently. He suggested that rather than turning the tables on their oppressors, they should attempt to resolve the caste system diplomatically, without any unnecessary violence. The sparks and minds of the High Council were touched by Orion's words: "Freedom is the right of _all_ sentient beings." Megatron, feeling betrayed, severed all ties with Orion and gathered his gladiatorial brothers to form an army he felt powerful enough to conquer Cybertron. In no time at all, the Decepticon army stormed Polyhex, the Primes' capital hub, where Megatron viciously attacked and killed Sentinel Prime. Claiming Polyhex and re-naming it Kaon, Megatron lead his Decepticons against the army formed by the High Council dubbed the Autobots. For centuries, the two factions fought until the extensive use of the planet's once rich source of life, energon, was depleted. Orion, desperate, journeyed to Cybertron's core, hoping to reverse the effects, and, instead, found himself before the spark of the Cybertronians' very creator, Primus. Sensing the benevolence in him, Primus saw fit to grant Orion the very Matrix that was thought to be lost forever, and thus, Orion Pax came to be, Optimus Prime, the last of the once proud lineage. Realizing that Cybertron was now a barren planet, Optimus led his Autobots on a mission to find more raw energon on other planets, hoping to rebuild their world. Unfortunately, Megatron led his Decepticons on an attack on the Autobot flagship and both armies crash landed on Nebulos, another metallic world inhabited by the Nebulans, an organic race of life. For two years the battle has continued on Nebulos, with neither side gaining any advantage, until now. The Nebulans have approached the Autobots with a new form of technology know as binary bonding, which would allow a Nebulan to partner with an Autobot and assist each other in the war. Now, the Autobots and Nebulans prepare for the final battle.

* * *

"HAHAHA! Hey, Duros! You okay in there!?" the Autobot, Hardhead laughed as Decepticon laser blasts shook the ground they tread upon. Duros, his binary bonded partner, laughed in amusement as he targeted the Decepticons for Hardhead to blow to smithereens. Eventually, the two were surrounded, and Duros pressed a button on Hardhead's control console, which transformed Hardhead's tank-mode into his body and Duros' exo-suit into Hardhead's head. From there, the two soldiers gunned down the ambush and joined with the rest of the Autobots. The other 'headmasters' were Highbrow and Gort, Brainstorm and Arcana, and Chromedome and Stylor.

"Listen up!" Highbrow, the leader of the Headmaster Autobots, called for the others' attention. "We're going to fall back and regroup at Prime's coordinates! Megatron is making his _big push_ , and we need to _push back!_ " The others nodded in agreement and set their strategy in motion.

* * *

Meanwhile, one little yellow Autobot was narrowly dodging the explosions as he screamed in terror. Finally a blast sent Bumblebee flying through the air and he was forced to transform as he landed on his back. The Decepticon, Blitzwing changed from his jet-mode to his tank-mode and aimed directly at Bumblebee's chest. As Bumblebee waited for the inevitable, two streaks of white and pink swiped him out of the way. Bumblebee opened his eyes to see that two of his best friends, Wheeljack and Arcee, had pushed him out of the way in time. He then noticed his twin brother, Cliffjumper, and other friend, Hound, began to lay some suppressing fire on Blitzwing before a black Cybertronian car swerved around them and transformed into the Autobot foot soldier, Sideswipe. Sideswipe leaped into the air, fired with his shoulder cannon, and blew Blitzwing into metal shards. " _Damn_ , I'm _good_." He whispered to himself.

"Are you okay, Bumblebee?" Arcee asked the small Autobot who was now blushing brightly.

"Y-yeah, Arcee, I'm okay." Bumblebee had always felt a strong attraction to Arcee ever since he had witnessed her performance in battle. She was like an elegant dancer as she would use her energy swords to slice through the enemy, yet she also had the compassion necessary for her fellow Autobots. Bumblebee was brought out of his daze as Sideswipe picked him up by the shoulder and angrily pointed in his face. "Kid, how many times do I have to _tell_ you?! It's just _five simple words_ : _Stay_. _Out_. _Of_. _Our_. _Way!_ " Sideswipe dropped the Autobot scout to the ground and zoomed off to the next Decepticon. Cliffjumper helped his brother off of the ground.

"Bee, why do you let him talk to you like that?" the horned Autobot trooper asked his brother.

"Yeah, Bumblebee," Arcee supported Cliffjumper's statement, "You need to stand up for yourself."

"Heh, maybe if I was _bigger_." Bumblebee was always self-conscious about his size, especially since Cliffjumper was the same size yet he was a better fighter.

"Well, Bee," Wheeljack began to speak in techno babble, "if I had my equipment, I could easily create a reactionary bonding polymer for you that would _substantially_ -"

"Wheeljack…" Bumblebee held up his palm to earn the attention of his oldest friend, "Do you _have_ this equipment?"

"…No."

"Do you have _any_ equipment?"

"Now you're being _rude_."

"Guys, I think we ought to head towards Prime," Hound, the bulky Autobot scout pulled his favorite gun from his back and motioned to the larger battle. With that, the small group of friends transformed and rolled to help their commander.

* * *

Optimus Prime and Megatron were at each others' throats. Both were heavily damaged from their conflict, and neither of them had the upper hand for very long. Megatron had sliced open Optimus' abdomen, causing the Autobot leader to stumble backwards. As Megatron leapt up, Optimus calculated his descent and struck Megatron at just the right time. Before Prime could attack any further, Megatron leapt up and grasped his head, threatening to rip out his optics. Fortunately, Optimus gathered all of his strength, and threw Megatron aside into a nearby wall.

The Headmasters had finally arrived and saw Optimus reaching for his gun.

"Finish him off, Prime! Do it now!" Hardhead cheered his commander on as he raised the massive gun at his sworn enemy. Little did Optimus know that Megatron spotted a hand gun just within his reach.

"No more, Optimus Prime!" He panted heavily, "Grant me mercy! I _beg_ of you!"

"You…" Optimus began as Megatron crawled closer, "who are _without_ mercy… now _plead_ for it? I thought you were made of _sterner stuff_."

By this time, Bumblebee had caught up, and spotted Megatron grabbing the gun and pointing it at Optimus. "NO YOU DON'T MEGATRON!" Bumblebee leapt up and blasted Megatron's hand. The Decepticon leader wailed in agony as he crested his damaged appendage.

"AUTOBOTS, OPEN FIRE!" At their leader's command, Ironhide, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, Sideswipe, the Headmasters, and all other Autobots present began to fire upon Megatron. Megatron's body twisted and turned at the different blasts from different directions, until finally, his body was reduced to its protoform. The gathered Decepticons, witnessing their leader's demise, retreated quickly. The Autobots cheered as the worst tyrant in all of Cybertron's history had been destroyed.

"Autobots," Optimus pressed the side of his helmet to activate his communicator, "this is Optimus Prime. Megatron is no more. The war is over."

"Indeed it _is_ Optimus." Gort, the leader of the Nebulan headmasters cut in. "But you must understand, Optimus… we realized that _all_ Cybertronians posed a threat to our planet." As Gort continued, several Nebulan platoons gathered around the Autobots. "We thought if we formed an alliance with _you_ , we could easily defeat the main threat, but we need to be rid… of _all_ of you." The Nebulan headmasters simultaneously pushed a button on their control consoles and let out a blood-curdling scream, "FOR LORD ZARAK!" To the Autobots' shock, the Autobot headmasters exploded, leaving no salvageable parts behind. The platoons gathered around began to lay down a suppressing fire. The Autobots were scared and enraged. They had fought alongside the Nebulans for only a short time, they should have realized that when they came to them after two years of causing chaos on their planet, they would feel rather xenophobic. Optimus looked in horror as he saw Ratchet and other friends fall. It was then that Optimus realized what the Autobots needed to do. He reached for his communicator once again and sent out the most desperate message he had ever made. "Calling all Autobots! Calling _all_ Autobots! Cease all contact with Nebulans and retreat to the nearest Autobot vessel! Use any means necessary to escape! Autobots, roll out!"

Optimus went south to the _Ark_ with Ironhide and Ultra Magnus, while the Autobot medic Fixit headed to his ship, the _Alchemor_. Bumblebee and his friends started to head to the _Ark_ with Optimus, but Bumblebee made a U-turn in the other direction. Cliffjumper transformed and screamed for his brother.

"Bumblebee! What the Smelting Furnace are you _doing!_ "

"Teletraan I! We left it at Autobot City!"

Cliffjumper growled in frustration and sped after his brother, with Arcee following closely behind. As Bumblebee reached the Autobot central hub, he transformed and searched effortlessly for the super computer. Teletraan I was the only computer that would be capable of finding the other Autobots scattered across the cosmos. When he finally reached the control room, he immediately spotted Teletraan I. But as he picked up the computer, he turned around to face a tall purple Decepticon. The Decepticon Fracture was responsible for killing Bumblebee's other brothers dubbed the Throttlebots: Wideload, Searchlight, Freeway, Chase, all dead because of him.

"Well, well, well," Fracture chuckled to himself, "If it isn't the _weak link_. Just two more kills, and I'll have assassinated an entire team." Fracture pulled out his gun and shot Bumblebee square in the chest. Bumblebee stumbled back and clenched his chest, but refused to let go of Teletraan I. To his shock, he began to badly rust. Fortunately, before Fracture could fire a second round, Cliffjumper zoomed into the room and kicked the Decepticon through the wall. Arcee grabbed Bumblebee as he still held onto Teletraan I. In no time at all, Bumblebee was safely on board the _Alchemor_ with Fixit, Hound, and Wheeljack.

"Fixit will see to you in just a moment, Bumblebee," Arcee rubbed her hand on Bumblebee's face, making him blush once more, "I was so _worried_ about you."

"You… you _were_?"

Arcee leaned closer to Bumblebee, but the moment was cut short as a Nebulan starship was following them close behind. The blast shook the _Alchemor_ so badly that it knocked Bumblebee into an escape pod. Without warning, the pod launched itself and Bumblebee was now alone. Eventually, he crash landed on a strange organic planet he had never seen before. As he looked around, he noticed large piles of scrap metal and many random machines. Suddenly, he remembered his injury. Turning to Teletraan I, he gave desperate orders as it responded in a monotone voice.

"Teletraan… what is it…?"

" **Match found. Virus identified as the scraplet plague.** "

"Is there a _cure_ …?"

" **There is. But it is a chemical formula so rare, its very existence is in question. However… history logs report that the virus may go dormant if the infected converts to alt-mode.** "

"I can't transform into my Cybertronian vehicle form. Can you scan a native vehicle for me…?"

" **Command recognized.** " A small probe popped out of side of Teletraan and zoomed through the air before finding an ideal vehicle. " **Explore. Explore.** " After scanning the vehicle, the probe returned and bathed Bumblebee in a bright yellow light as it reprogrammed his transformation cog. " **Repair. Repair.** " After the probe returned to the main computer, Bumblebee crested Teletraan and transformed. "Send out… a distress signal… I know I'm… not… important… but please… help me…" with that, Bumblebee went into stasis lock, but his adventure was far from over.

* * *

It is the year 1988. Spike Witwicky was a handy repairman who owned a small business out of a salvage yard passed down to him by his father, Daniel "Sparkplug" Witwicky, who had died in service to his country. Spike was now left to look after his brother, sister and wife. Despite minor financial issues, the Witwicky family always believed that they would pull through, accepting whatever fate God had in store for them. But nothing could prepare them for this.

"45 flatbeds. 63 convertibles. And… hey…" Spike was walking through his salvage yard, checking inventory, before he came across a Volkswagen Beetle he had never seen before. "Carly! Buster! Alexis!" In no time at all, Spike's family gathered around him to help him push the car into the garage.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Carly, Spike's wife, asked.

"I've never _seen_ this car in our salvage lab before. I want to check it out."

" _Salvage lab_?" Spike's brother, Buster remarked in annoyance, "it's a _junk yard_ , Spike."

"We do _not_ use the j-word in this family, Buster. Now, Alexis, hand me that bucket of water. I want to clean it off."

The preteen Witwicky did as she was told and handed a bucket of water to Spike. To the family's surprise, when Spike splashed the water onto the car, tiny pieces of metal flew out of a hole in the hood and rusted away. Intrigued, Spike popped the hood and reached down into the hole. As he rummaged through it, he finally grabbed something that didn't feel like it belonged and pulled it out.

"What _is_ that?" Buster squinted at the cone in Spike's hand. "Looks like a missile."

It turned out that Buster was right when the missile sparked to life and began to ricochet off of everything in the garage until it went out the door and blew up. Before the family could get up from the ground, they heard a terrified scream as the car roared to life. It backed up to the end of the garage, startling the Witwickys. The car's parts began to shift around before their eyes as their eyes widened with horror. Finally, a big, yellow robot stood before them and pulled out some kind of weapon. "YOU ROTTEN LOUSY NEBULANS! I'LL KILL YOU! STAY BACK! STAY BA-" Bumblebee stopped screaming as he noticed the people he had at gunpoint had unfamiliar skin pigmentation. "You're not Nebulans." He lowered the gun as the tallest one stood up and tried his best to calmly explain what had happened.

"No. We're _humans_. My name is Spike Witwicky. This is my wife, Carly, my brother, Buster, and my sister, Alexis. There was a missile in your engine, but we took it out. You're okay, no one will hurt you."

"Spike…" Bumblebee coughed as he knelt down, "I am in your debt… the scraplet virus. I can't feel it… did you… _cure_ me?"

"Well, we poured water on you and a bunch of weird metal things came out of you." Bumblebee was evidently surprised. That must have been the cure. "What's… uh, what's _your_ name?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Bumblebee. Bah-Weep-Grah-Nah-Weep-Ni-Ni-Bong!"

"… _what?_ " Spike looked at his family and then back to Bumblebee. "I have _no_ idea what you just said."

"Oh, I guess your race isn't that advanced yet." Bumblebee stated as he extended his hand and shook Spike's. " _That_ was a universal greeting. I just stated that I come in peace, and mean no harm to you or your planet. What planet is this anyway? Alpha 9? Regulon 4?"

"Earth."

"… that is the most _uncreative_ name for a planet I've ever heard."

"Well, what's _your_ planet's name?!"

"Cybertron…"

"… okay, yeah. That actually sounds pretty badass."

"Spike, he looks like he's hurt." Carly placed his hands on her husband's shoulders, "Maybe you should stay with him for a bit longer while we go fix dinner. We'll come back later."

"Okay, baby." Spike kissed Carly and walked her back to the door with Buster and Alexis.

"Dude, we have a _robot_ in our garage!" Buster exclaimed excitedly as he fist-bumped Spike, an act that caught Bumblebee's eye. When the others left, Spike went to prepare his tools to fix Bumblebee, but he soon noticed the robot was staring at him. "What?"

"What does that mean?" Bumblebee asked.

"What does _what_ mean?"

"What you just did with your brother. What does it mean?" Bumblebee then knocked his fists together to demonstrate.

"Oh! That's, uh, that's a way of showing brotherly affection."

"Interesting… what other customs does this planet have?"

"Oh, lots of things: art, theatre, music, politics-"

"Wait, what was that?"

"Politics?"

"No, before that."

"Theatre?"

"No, the other thing… m… mmm… mmmmoooo-zic," Bumblebee tried to pronounce the word but Spike obviously understood, "What is moo-zic?"

"Music! It's great. Here!" Spike went to his television remote control and turned it to an all-music channel. A half-hour later, Carly and the others walked in to find Bumblebee's eyes fixed on the screen with an expression of awe and amazement while Spike continued to work on his damaged parts. Carly brought Spike's dinner to him as Bumblebee finished listening to _Bohemian_ _Rhapsody_ by Queen. Alexis noticed Bumblebee rubbing his eyes.

"Are you okay, Bumblebee?" She asked.

"Yeah," the Autobot replied, "A decent song. Reminds me of… how I feel sometimes."

"What do you mean…?" The Witwickys listened as Bumblebee told them about how he often felt that he was the weakest link in the Autobot army because of his size. He told them how he felt fortunate enough to have Arcee, Hound, Fixit, and his brother Cliffjumper as his friends. And he finally got to his favorite part, how Optimus Prime, the most powerful Autobot, leader of the free galaxy, allowed _him_ to be in his army.

* * *

Meanwhile in deep space, the _Alchemor_ drifted silently through infinite blackness a Hound maintained radio contact with Optimus Prime. Cliffjumper and Arcee sat in front of the empty escape pod hatch, with a deep sadness aching in their sparks. Suddenly, Cliffjumper bolted up, eyes wide, chest clenched. He smiled widely as he grabbed Arcee's arm and rushed both of them to the others. "Oh, yeah. _Hell yeah!_ Fixit! He's okay! He's alive! Bumblebee's _alive!_ "

"What are you talking about? How do you know?" Fixit was excited but remained calm.

"Bee and I got a split-spark! I can _feel_ him! Wheeljack, check for any signals!" The Autobot engineer did as he was instructed, and sure enough, found his little buddy's distress message.

"Prime, we can _save_ him! You can rendezvous with us at that planet after we get Bumblebee!" Before Optimus could answer, a white Autobot with two swords at his sides and one sword in his hands spoke up.

"Why should we waste our efforts on a _single_ scout? Bumblebee has always ridiculed me because of my Decepticon past, despite _his_ complete and total lack of _anything_ resembling warrior disciple. He's like a _child_."

"Drift, if you don't take that back, that _child's_ brother is gonna kick your ass!"

"Try it, you'll be dead!"

"Enough, both of you! Fixit… we will meet at the coordinates. If we are to recover from the losses we have suffered recently, we must aid any and _all_ Autobots we can." Drift hung his head in agreement. With their orders given, Fixit set a course for Earth.

* * *

"Aw! You found me!" Alexis squealed with glee as Bumblebee found her under the bushes. "You're cheating!"

"Nah, I'm just really good at… human… games…" Bumblebee trailed off as he noticed Buster carrying something bright purple in his hand. As Bumblebee got a clearer view of it his eyes widened. "Buster! Where did you get _that?!_ "

"Oh! I just saw it on the ground, why? What is it?"

"That… is _raw energon_." Bumblebee stated, "You are holding the purest form of Cybertronian life-blood in your hands! If there could be more of it on earth, then I need to let Optimus know!"

"But won't he be afraid of a repeat of what happened on Nebulous?" Carly asked.

"Maybe this time we can actually form an alliance with your world's government. Ask for permission before we come unexpectedly."

As Bumblebee pondered, he noticed several things in the salvage yard to be shaking, and then looked up to see the _Alchemor_. Fixit descended from the ramp and ran to Bumblebee's side. When he noticed the humans, he drew his hand gun and pointed it in warning. "No, Fixit, don't!" Bumblebee rushed in front of him, "They _saved_ my life! I _owe_ them."

"Oh…" Fixit retracted his gun and bowed in respect. "Apologies! The Autobots thank you for your assistance. Now c'mon, Bumblebee, let's get you to the CR Chamber."

Wait!" Alexis called for Bumblebee who turned around to face her, "I… I had _fun_ playing with you…"

"Oh… yeah," Bumblebee smiled at the little girl he called his friend, "I had fun, too. And Spike, thanks for helping me."

"Hey, friends help their friends… now, you should go on and join Optimus."

"I'll try to visit!" Fixit finally drug Bumblebee onto the ship where the little yellow Autobot was bombarded with the relentless hugs of his friends. Wheeljack and Arcee helped Bumblebee into the CR Chamber, and the engineer slipped a small vile into the side. "What's that?"

"It's the reactionary bonding polymer I was telling you about. I call it, Goldfire! It'll make you harder, better, faster, stronger!" Bumblebee chuckled to himself. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just… that's the name of a song on earth. They live in an amazing world." Bumblebee's eyes widened as he remembered the important thing, "This world has energon! I can scout to see if they have any more!" After he finished explaining what he learned and asked for a special enhancement, Bumblebee stepped out of the CR Chamber revealing his new sleek golden armor, with a blue helmet and silver mouth mask. His signature horns were now squared down and less pointy, he was also very tall.

"Why, Bumblebee, have I mentioned how attractive you are?" Arcee flirted.

"Not really…" Bumblebee smiled and then his attention shifted to his brother at the sound of his voice.

"Yesterday you told me you liked him."

"No, I didn't." Arcee's eyes shifted away as she blushed brightly.

"Yeah, you did. I distinctly remember it because you told me not to tell Bumblebee… _oh_..."

"Fixit, please send Bumblebee to scout the area." Arcee still blushed as she tried to change the subject. Fixit located a position to send Bumblebee via the Groundbridge, conveniently located close to the Witwickys, much to Bumblebee's joy. In a flash of green light, Bumblebee was right next to a street sign that read "Welcome to Evansville, Indiana!" Bumblebee hid in the bushes waiting for the perfect Alt-mode for his new build, until he finally found one: a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. As he roared onto the road, he attempted to contact the base but no one responded. "Fixit? Arcee? Cliff? Hound? Wheeljack? What's wrong?"

"Bumblebee…" Arcee finally answered, "it's… it's Fracture. He must have picked up your signal, he's heading toward your human friends' home. We _can't_ intervene, he may alert the other Decepticons… there's _nothing_ you can do…"

Bumblebee shifted his gears and took a quick detour like a bat out of Hell. Arcee noticed his signal and began to panic. She screamed into the communicator, begging for him to turn back, but he simply replied, "Friends help friends."

* * *

Meanwhile, a purple car pulled up to Spike as he attempted to communicate with the driver. "Hi! Need an oil change?... tires rotated?... new engine block?... Buddy, if you want my help, you gotta get out of the car." Suddenly the car's parts shifted to form a giant purple robot that snarled at Spike. Spike ran to his family and told them to hide, but it was too late, Fracture had his gun pointed at the house and ready to fire. But as the family held each other tightly, Fracture flew backwards as a gilded Camaro rammed into his legs. Bumblebee transformed in front of the Witwickys and held his ground, at first Fracture was confused, but when Bumblebee retracted his mask, Fracture just laughed.

" _You_ again? I guess I can give the kid-friendly 'bot a last request before I slaughter you, since you _humor_ me."

"Well, that's real _generous_ , I think I'll _take_ it. I wanna show you a _trick_ I picked up from this planet." Bumblebee slid his hand up his arm to reenact rolling up sleeves as Fracture raised an eyebrow, "It's a _very_ special trick that can only be used for special occasions like this… Oh, yeah… one more thing: I'm _not_ the 'kid-friendly 'bot,' you mold of a glitch!" With his last word, Bumblebee flicked his right hand in Fracture's direction, revealing a hand-held pulse blaster, and shot the Decepticon straight through the spark. With his brothers avenged, Bumblebee retracted the gun and kneeled down to speak to the Witwicky family. "I _told_ you I'd visit."

"Bumblebee!" Alexis hugged the Autobot's arm as the others laughed in excitement. "You came _back!_ "

"Back? Are you _kidding?_ I'm _better than ever!_ I mean, just look at this new _body!_ I've gone beyond being just a plain old Bumblebee… I'm a… a… a _gold bug!_... Goldbug… yeah, I _like_ the sound of that." As the newly renamed Autobot took in his badass new name and appearance with his friends, he noticed a ship landing behind the house. "Guys… get ready to meet my friends."

* * *

 **To be continued!**

 **Starring:**

 **Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime**

 **Frank Welker as Megatron**

 **Dan Gilvezan as Bumblebee/Goldbug**

 **Susan Blu as Arcee**

 **Casey Kasem as Cliffjumper**

 **Chris Latta as Wheeljack**

 **Kevin Pollak as Fracture**

 **And John Goodman as Hound**


	2. Intermission

**Arcee:** "Cliffjumper! We need your help! Get your big-ass gun and help us!"

 **Cliffjumper (Looks like Tracks):** "Are you _kidding_ me?! I might scratch my finish!"

 **Arcee:** "Cliff, eat an Energon Goodie."

 **Cliffjumper (Still looks like Tracks, takes a bite.):** "Why?"

 **Arcee:** "You're not yourself when you're running on empty. Better?"

 **Cliffjumper (Holding a gun bigger than he is):** "Better. NOW LET'S GO KILL 'EM!"

 **You're Not You When You're Running On Empty**

 _ **Energon Goodies**_

 **Refuels!**


	3. Meet the Team

**Chapter 2: Meet the Team**

* * *

The Autobot formerly known as Bumblebee kept his human friends close as the wind from the _Alchemor_ blew dusty wind into their faces. When the shuttle finally landed, Goldbug and the Witwickys looked at the massive spaceship that was safely parked behind the house and garage.

As Goldbug stood up, he saw the same probe he used to reprogram his alt-mode zoom into the sky in search of native vehicles. In no time at all, the probe returned to the ship and bathed the inside with a familiar yellow glow. The Autobot and his friends could then hear a small hissing noise, followed by the sound of multiple engines revving. From behind the house, two semi trucks, a Ford Mustang, a Porsche 924, a Honda, an ambulance, and a J59 Military Jeep drove up and circled the group. Finally, the vehicles transformed and a tall red and blue robot walked up to Goldbug.

"Hello, Bumblebee." Optimus Prime retracted his mask and smiled at his scout.

"Optimus… you _came_." Goldbug's smile was as wide as it had ever been as he faced his leader.

"We must leave _now_ , Bumblebee." Optimus' smile went back to its more serious tone.

"Optimus, wait!" Goldbug started to explain what he had learned about this planet and what it was worth. "On Nebulous, we just started fighting for two years after crash landing there four millennia prior. Maybe you and Ultra Magnus could actually meet with this world's government, and try to work out an actual alliance with these people. These humans _saved_ my life! I want to be able to _protect_ them if any other Decepticons try to hurt them… sir."

Optimus looked at Ultra Magnus who smiled and nodded in agreement. "Very well, Bumblebee. We will try it your way. And let me just say, I am greatly _impressed_ with your words."

"Th-thanks, Optimus. Oh! By the way, I'd like to go by _Goldbug_ now."

"Very well, Ultra Magnus and I shall go speak with this world's leaders and attempt a treaty. In the meantime, you and your team will protect this family. That is all… _Lieutenant_ Goldbug."

Goldbug stumbled back as Optimus and Ultra Magnus transformed and drove off. " _Lieutenant?!_ Yes, sir!" Goldbug watched his leader drive off and went back to his friends. "Alright, now-" Before Goldbug could say anything else, Arcee rushed up and put him in a tight squeeze.

"I was so _worried!_ Are you okay?"

"Yes, Arcee, I'm _fine_. Fracture never stood a _chance_ against Lieutenant Goldbug!"

"Okay…" Arcee sighed with relief before slapping Goldbug upside his head, "THEN WHAT THE SMELTING FURNACE WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Wait! _You're_ Arcee?" Alexis smiled at the pink Autobot who looked at her a bit confused.

"Yes."

"So you're Bumblebee's _girlfriend_ he was talking about!" Arcee looked at Goldbug who blushed brightly and knelt down to the preteen.

"Aheh. Alexis, she's, uh, she's not _exactly_ my girlfriend…"

"Exactly?" Alexis seemed puzzled, "She either _is_ or she's _not_ …" By now all humans and transformers present were looking at Goldbug as he knitted his brow in annoyance.

"Okay… she's _not_."

'Why not?"

"Well I, uh… never asked her to be?"

"She's here now." Alexis smiled as Goldbug blushed. The gilded Autobot turned to face his pink companion who was chuckling under her breath. Goldbug walked over to Arcee and rubbed the back of his neck with Alexis and the other Witwickys egging him on now.

"Uh… Arcee, would you… like to go out sometime?"

"Sure," Arcee replied happily, "sounds like _fun_." Goldbug shivered at her last statement.

"What's wrong, Bumble- err… Goldbug?" Arcee asked as she helped Goldbug sit down.

"The first time we met and you said something sounded like _fun_ … it was a _disaster_."

Buster was now next to the Autobot duo. "How _did_ the two of you first meet?"

"We can do more than _tell_ you about it…" The bulky green Autobot known as Hound stepped up and pulled a cord from his forearm. "With a few holograms, we'll _show_ you."

"Good idea, Hound!" Cliffjumper was now excited but then turned to Goldbug. "But _first_ … maybe some introductions are in order, bro?"

"Oh! Right, uh, Team _Alchemor_ , meet the Witwickys: Spike, his wife Carly, his brother Buster, and his sister Alexis. And guys…" Goldbug turned to his human friends and introduced them to the Autobots. "This is my team. My powerhouse and, uh, second-in-command: Arcee."

Arcee knelt down and shook hands with the humans, "It's nice to meet you. Goldbug told us a lot about you when we repaired him." Alexis was in awe at the femme's build.

"Wow. You're so articulated!"

"Well, aren't you _sweet!_ " Arcee laughed at Alexis' comment as Goldbug went on.

"My brother and weapons specialist: Cliffjumper." Cliffjumper reached from his back and pulled out a cannon that was twice his own size and pointed it at the group.

"You feelin' _lucky_ , punks?!" Buster's eyes were wide as saucers at the sight of the red Autobot's gun.

" _Easy_ , Cliffjumper." Goldbug scolded his brother who just shrugged.

"I was just _kidding_. I just wanted to show 'em my cannon." Buster exhaled excitedly as Goldbug went on to the red and white Autobot with some sort of fins on the sides of his head.

"Our medical officer: Fixit."

"Hmmm… the shortest male's pheromone levels suggests he has found a female to mate with." Spike, Carly, and Alexis all looked at Buster who coughed into his hand.

"… Her name's Jessie… I was gonna tell you guys. It's… it's pretty _serious_." Goldbug finally reached the last Autobot who also had fins on his head, but they seemed to light up whenever he talked.

"Our ecologist and _other_ powerhouse, Hound."

"This planet is amazing! You have trees and water and these... these... what are these?" Hound motioned to Spike as he held up something.

"Uh... that's a _rock_."

"A _rock_. This planet has _rocks!_ "

"And finally, my amica endura and engineer: Wheeljack."

"Nice to meet you kids." Wheeljack commented as Spike looked at Goldbug.

"Amica endura?" Spike asked.

"That's the Cybertronian term for what you humans call 'best friends forever.'" Goldbug replied as he and Wheeljack fist-bumped. "For a species that can live for thousands of years, it's kind of a _big deal_."

"I'll bet." Spike replied. "You taught them to fist-bump?"

"That _and_ all of your other customs. Now, you said you wanted to see some stories?" The humans huddled around Arcee as Hound plugged the cord into Arcee's forehead and opened his palm to display a hologram.

* * *

Arcee's story begins at one of Iacon's military HQ's were she was supposed to receive her first solo mission's details. As she walked into the central hub, she passed a blue femme and a red mech flirting with each other as they were placing a Decepticon in his prison cell.

"Stop struggling, Star-creep! You've killed your _last_ bot!" The red mech almost punched Starscream in the face before the blue femme grabbed his hand.

" _Hold it_ , Ironhide… femmes _first_."

"D'aww, sorry, ma'am. Forgot my _manners_." Ironhide smiled at Chromia as she punched Starscream into his cell.

Arcee finally found the front desk, but no one appeared to be there. Suddenly, a computer jumped off of the desk and transformed. "Greetings, I am Perceptor. I take it you are Arcee?" Arcee nodded. "Very well, I shall summon your informant. BUMBLEBEE!" Without warning, a little, yellow Cybertronian car sped around the corner and crashed into Arcee. The car transformed and got up as quickly as he could.

"Oh, Primus! I'm so sorry! My name is Bumblebee, I'm just a scout but I was ordered here for right now. I'm your informant." Arcee brushed herself off and shook hands with the yellow scout.

"Do you know who I am?" Arcee raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, _yes_. I've read your file. Autobot foot soldier R-17 C-29. Self-designation: Arcee. You were captured by the Decepticon scientist Jhiaxus and taken to his laboratory where he exposed you to something know as 'dead universe particles.' As a result, you can heal from almost any wound in a matter of seconds. You were fortunate enough to escape when your partner Springer led a raid on Jhiaxus' lab and supposedly killed him. But, they never found any remains."

"That's my story in an energon cube." Arcee smirked. "So, what's my mission?"

"Are you familiar with the Decepticon Shockwave?"

"One of Jhiaxus' students."

"Correct. We arrested him when we discovered he was conducting illegal experiments on a group of six Autobots: Grimlock, Slag, Snarl, Skar, Swoop, and Sludge. Skar was killed as a result of the experiments but the others had their alt-modes changed to some kind of beast-modes. The most dangerous one, Grimlock, has gone AWOL. He was last spotted in the Sea of Rust. Your mission is to find him and bring him back into custody."

"Sounds like _fun_." Arcee smiled. Before she had set off, the Autobot soldier went back to the scout. "But before I go… _Slag?_ Tell him that name sounds kind of offensive."

A few hours later, Arcee was inside the Autobot Jetfire, flying over the Sea of Rust, a barren wasteland with no actual liquids, only rusty, malleable metal. "Is it my imagination, or has this place gotten _uglier?_ "

"Ugly is as ugly does, Jetfire." Arcee chuckled as her escort opened the hatch.

"You sure you don't want me to try to land, Sheila?" Jetfire asked before Arcee spotted a lopsided building.

"Don't _bother_." Arcee leapt out of the Cybertronian jet and transformed into her convertible alt-mode. She narrowly landed on the side of the building and raced down all the way to the ground. She pushed herself through a storm until she finally detected an energon signature. She transformed and reached for her sword as she peeked around the corner. But to her disappointment, all she saw was some 'bot weeping into his hands.

"Hey, buddy…" Arcee walked towards the 'bot, seemingly scaring him. "What's wrong? What are you even _doing_ out here?"

"NO! STAY BACK!" the 'bot stumbled backwards and shuffled away from Arcee as quickly as he could.

"Take it _easy_ you big bozo, I'm not gonna-"

"Bozo? _Bozo?!_ " the 'bot grabbed Arcee and threw her several yards away as she witnessed him slam both of his fists onto the ground, his head tucked in, another popped up, a tail emerged, and he roared in anger at the pink Autobot. "ME GRIMLOCK NO BOZO, ME GRIMLOCK KING!"

"Aw, _slag_ …" Arcee's knees came together as she weakly smiled. "I don't suppose you have any interest in talking this out?" Grimlock roared again and spun around at lightning speed. Arcee screamed as she flew into the air and crashed back into the ground.

"Arcee? Arcee, come in. Arcee!" Bumblebee's voice rang in Arcee's com-link as she struggled to get up. As she wiped the energon from her mouth, she noticed her arm was twisted backwards. She screamed in pain as she set it back correctly. She answered the com-link with a simple question.

"What the _Smelting Furnace_ happened?" suddenly she heard a faint sound from far away, and then it got louder. Suddenly, the image formed a complete view of a dynobot with flames spewing out of his mouth as he roared in anger. "Oh, yeah." Arcee drew her swords and snarled at the dynobot. "Okay! Let's _do_ this! Come on!"

Grimlock charged, and rammed Arcee into a rusted wall. She slashed back at his face, but he just kicked her away. Fortunately, the blow knocked her out of his line of sight. As he paced around, Arcee jumped from a small structure and sank her swords into Grimlock's back. He howled in pain as he rolled over, attempting to crush her. Arcee ripped the swords out of Grimlock's back, unfortunately, that left her open for Grimlock to bite her and blast her with flames. As she struggled to get up, Grimlock ran her threw with his tail, forcing energon out of her abdomen, mouth, and eyes. Grimlock began to violently slam his tail onto the ground, worsening Arcee's condition as he yelled at her in anger. "ME, GRIMLOCK, _KILL_ PINK-BOT! PINK-BOT _LEAVE_ ME, GRIMLOCK, _ALONE!_ ME, GRIMLOCK, NO BOZO! ME KING!"

With a final smash, Grimlock whipped Arcee off of his tail and looked down at her. Several pieces of armor had fallen off of her, energon leaked out of every opening, and a gaping hole formed in her chest. Realizing he had won, Grimlock converted back to his robot-mode and began to stomp away. Yet he stopped in his tracks as he heard the sound of someone stepping on metal. He spun around and saw Arcee, completely healed, heaving and panting as she realigned her jaw. She smiled and drew her swords again. "Okay, _buddy_ … let's try that _again_ …" She charged at the tall dynobot, leapt into the air, and elegantly spun in a circular motion as she cut into Grimlock's mesh. He roared as she quickly maneuvered and danced around him, slashing and dodging his blows. She thrust her swords into his shoulders, ripped them back out and leapt up to tear into his back. At last, he could no longer take the pain, and Grimlock fell to the ground. Arcee checked his pulse, and after identifying that he was still alive, remembered that she left her com-link on.

"Bumblebee, if you're still getting this, kindly tell Jetfire that I am in need of an escort."

* * *

"And _that_ is how I met Goldbug. I mean Bumblebee. I mean Goldbug who _was_ Bumblebee."

"WOOOOOOOOW!" Alexis had stars in her eyes as Arcee finished her story. "That was the _coolest_ story I've ever heard!"

"It _was_ as bad as Goldbug hinted." Cliffjumper laughed as the others looked at him.

"Yeah? Well, _our_ story isn't exactly a walk in the park." Goldbug snorted.

"Oh! Oh! Another story?!" Alexis smiled at Cliffjumper, who looked at Hound and motioned for the hologram-plug. "Alright. We already said that Goldbug and I are twin brothers, so you can expect that we've known each other for a long time. But the _first_ time we ever _worked_ together as _soldiers_ was on a planet called Velocitron."

* * *

Hound's hologram showed an image of the two 'bots as the raced down a twisted road, with five Decepticon cars in hot pursuit.

"Oh, Primus! Oh, Primus! Cliff, how did I let you talk me into this?!"

"Will you just shut up and drive?!" Cliffjumper signaled for his brother to turn left as he saw a squadron of Seekers in his rear-view. The twins sharply swerved off of the road and behind a building where they waited for someone to find them. Cliffjumper shifted his mirror onto his arm and stretched it out so he could see, but he didn't like the view: the Stunticons with a small platoon of Seekers.

Quickly, Cliffjumper his multi-use cannon and desperately began to order it to reload. But most of the ammunition was empty, and the Seekers were getting close.

"Weapon, convert to scatter blaster!"

 **Ammunition depleted.**

"Sling shock!"

 **Ammunition depleted.**

"Corrosive blast!"

 **Ammunition depleted.**

"Glass gas?"

 **Glass gas: Accepted. One round remaining.**

"Good enough…" Cliffjumper chuckled and looked at his brother. "Y'know 'bee… everyone in this war is always thinking about how to _kill_ … not _me_. I like to think of the simpler things… like: _how much_ is this gonna _hurt?_ "

Cliffjumper spun out from behind the building and fired at the center of where the Seekers stood. A flash of light spread over the generic Decepticons as they screamed in agony. The light and the screams finally dimmed and Cliffjumper and Bumblebee went around to see glass statues. With one flick of his finger, Cliffjumper shattered the Seekers.

"That was… weird." Bumblebee was surprised to see the effects of the glass gas. Suddenly, they came under fire of the Stunticons. The leader, Motormaster, was shouting orders to his men as they saw the twins.

"That's the little red Autobot that's been giving Megatron so much grief! I do believe he deserves our attention!"

"You are correct, but we probably won't kill him", Motormaster."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Cancel that negativity, Dead End! We'll _slag_ 'em just like _all_ the previous 'bots we've gone up against!"

"I don't _know_ , Wildrider. What if they shoot _fire_ out of their mouths, or _lightning_ from their fingers, or _lasers_ out of their eyes!?"

"Calm _down_ , Breakdown, you big outlet! With _Dragstrip_ on your team to add some _femme power_ , you _can't_ lose!"

Suddenly, Cliffjumper jumped out and threw his cannon at the Motormaster. This made the Decepticon thug stumble back, but he didn't fall down. In fact, it only seemed to increase his rage as he snapped the cannon in half.

"THAT TEARS IT! STUNTICONS, MERGE TO FORM… MENASOR!"

The Stunticons transformed into their vehicular modes and began to swerve around the Autobot twins. Breakdown and Wildrider stopped abruptly and transformed into a pair of legs. Motormaster soared off of a ramp and transformed into a torso, landing on the legs with ease. Dragstrip and Dead End use their own ramps to connect to the torso as arms. Finally, a massive head appeared and roared in anger and frustration.

"Whoa." Bumblebee's knees locked together as he shivered with fear.

"Never seen _this_ molderfragger before." Cliffjumper and Bumblebee transformed and tried to speed away, as Menasor ripped up pieces of the road and threw it at them. However, Bumblebee realized that if they could just get to Velocitron's central district, they could radio in for a space bridge. The district was only two miles away, but Menasor was still hot on their trail. Finally, Menasor threw a piece of road right in front of them, stopping them dead in their tracks. Fortunately, Cliffjumper had an idea. He grabbed Bumblebee and threw him at the gestalt's head, knocking him out cold.

"Bumblebee! Are you okay?!"

"WHAT THE FRAG IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU JUST THREW ME AT A GESTALT!"

"I know! It _worked_ didn't it?!"

* * *

"And then we got to the central district, and space bridged back to Cybertron."

"Did you hear how loud you screamed, Bumblebee?!"

"You're one to talk." Buster snorted, "Just the other day, _you_ were screaming about _snakes_."

"HEY! They don't have arms! That's just weird!"

"If you want a _scary_ story," Hound raised his palm again, "That was _nothing_. When _I_ met Bumblebee, I lost my entire team."

* * *

On a planet know as the Beast Planet, the metal was so withered out, it looked more like a jungle than a city. The inhabitants had taken the forms of beasts and monsters in order to survive the harsh habitats. A yellow Autobot had gone on a scouting mission when his ship came under siege. He managed to use the escape pod, but he had no way to get home. An elite squad of Autobot soldiers, the Wreckers, was sent to find him. After landing on the planet, it was easy to find Bumblebee. But the story was not yet over.

"Major…" Roadbuster motioned for Hound to come to him, "There's something following us."

"Aw, you're getting all worked up over nothing, Roady!" The Wreckers' leader, Impactor tried to calm his comrade down. The other Wreckers, Topspin and Twintwist, were scouting ahead while Kup, a member of the Elite Guard, kept watch over Bumblebee. As Topspin went in a different direction, he noticed movement in the metal brush. He readied his gun, waiting to fire. But to his amusement, the disturbance was merely a turbofox. He chuckled a bit for being so jumpy, when a laser blast blew through his chest. Twintwist saw his friend fall to the ground and rushed to his aid. As he knelt down at Topspin's side, he saw something with red spikes sticking out from its neck resembling a mane, a set of sharp fangs, glowing red eyes, and a Decepticon insignia. Twintwist screamed in anger as he fired on the monster that killed Topspin, earning the attention of the other Wreckers. The rest of the team, as well as Bumblebee and Kup, aided Twintwist and fired their own weapons. They fired until they had completely mowed down twenty feet of metal trees and brush.

"Twintwist, what happened?"

"I don't know! I think it was a 'con! Except… it turned into some kinda animal, Impactor! He killed Topspin! He Killed Topspin!"

"Get it together, man!" Kup slapped the young 'bot in the face, "If there is a Decepticon here, we need to keep moving."

Twintwist looked down at Topspin with a saddened look. Hound noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder as he attempted to comfort the 'bot. "Twintwist… he was a good Autobot."

"Thank you, Major Hound… he was… my _friend_."

"Impactor, sir?" Bumblebee asked nervously, "I think I know what attacked him."

" _Do tell_." The Wreckers' attention shifted to the little 'bot.

"Well, if it _was_ a Decepticon, based on Twintwist's description… it sounds like a Predacon. Predacons use the forms of other-word wildlife to hunt down Autobots. Only transforming to their robot-modes as last resorts." The Wreckers looked nervously at each other as Bumblebee's story sank in.

"We should call for back-up." Kup stated.

"Kup, the Wreckers don't call for back-up…" Impactor looked at his comrades as they simultaneously sang their battle cry, "THEY CALL FOR CLEAN UP!"

The Wreckers pressed onward, keeping their eyes open for anything. Minutes turned to hours, and finally, the sun set over the horizon. The Autobots activated their headlights and pressed forward. Unfortunately, Bumblebee stumbled off of a cliff and rolled almost out of sight.

"I'll get him!" Impactor ran down after Bumblebee until he finally reached the small scout. But as Impactor pulled Bumblebee up, a low growl came from behind him. Impactor turned around, and the Predacon leapt up and clawed the Wrecker's head clean off, spraying Bumblebee with energon. The other Wreckers arrived and tried to open fire on the Predacon, but instead, the Predacon blasted Roadbuster, nearly killing him. Hound and Kup allowed the Predacon to fall back and picked up Roadbuster, but Twintwist went after the Decepticon that killed his friend.

"Twintwist!" Kup called after the young 'bot, but he wouldn't listen, "Hound, that turbo-revvin' young punk's gonna get himself killed!" Kup ran after the young Wrecker as Hound tossed one of his own guns to the Elite Guardsman. Kup shifted through the metal brush, keeping his head low. He had trained several Autobots in his life, and had been through plenty of near-death situations before, but he had _never_ been hunted. He thought of what he was going to do when he stepped in something. He looked down and saw that what he was standing in was the contents of Twintwist's head. Kup looked up to see the Predacon gnawing on what remained of the Wrecker's as it spotted the Elite Guardsman. Kup raised his gun, ready to fire, when the Predacon fired his arm off and then ripped Kup in half.

Hound, Roadbuster, and Bumblebee where only a few miles away from the ship when a laser blast cut through Roadbuster's head. "Bumblebee! Get to the ship!" Bumblebee struggled up and transformed to speed away. " _I'll_ take care of this." Hound threw down his weapons and raised his fists. "If you're a Decepticon, then you've got an inflated ego! I have no weapons! If you shoot me, you'll look weak! Face me! Face-to-face! Fist-to-fist!" The Predacon prowled out of the brush and just stared at Hound for a moment. Finally, the Predacon shifted its parts to where it stood on two legs, revealed two clawed hands, and a head with a visor and a fanged mouth. "You are _one_ _ugly_ molderfragger."

The Predacon leapt up, high into the air, as Hound took a defensive position. As the Predacon descended, it clawed Hound's side and he screamed with pain. This was the 'con that killed his _closest_ friends. He gritted his teeth as he realized he'd never get to see them again, never here Twintwist and Topspin humorously bicker again, never see Impactor punch hole's straight through 'cons again, never see Roadbuster blow holes through Decepticon bases again. NEVER! In blind fury, Hound ripped a metal tree out of the ground and slammed it into the Predacon. "YOU MOLD OF A GLITCH! YOU KILLED MY FRIENDS! YOU KILLED MY _BROTHERS! WHAT THE SMELTING FURNACE ARE YOU?!_ " Hound finally stopped beating the Predacon when he saw it covered in its own energon as he breathed its final word.

"What… the Smelting… Furnace… are _you?_ " Hound pulled his shoulder cannon from his back and blew the Predacon's head off.

* * *

"That _was_ scary!" Carly hugged Spike as Hound finished his story.

"What about Wheeljack and Fixit?" Spike asked.

"Oh! I actually met them at the same time." Goldbug stated.

* * *

Bumblebee was walking through the halls of Iacon, reading the details of his latest scouting mission. Suddenly, an explosion sent a white Autobot with fins on his head into a wall. Bumblebee ran to his side. "Are you okay!"

"Oh, yeah… I was just testing to see if raw energon was too unstable to be used as fuel for our weapons…"

"I take it the answer is… _yes?_ "

"You _bet_ your _aft_ the answer's yes! HAHAHA! Autobot Engineer Wheeljack." The white 'bot extended his hand as Bumblebee smiled and took it.

"Autobot Scout Bumblebee."

"WHEELJACK!" a red and white Autobot ran up to the engineer and quickly sprayed him with fire retardant. "Autobot Medic Fixit. Excuse me, you young 'bot, could you help me get the 'mad scientist' here to my ward?"

"Sure." Bumblebee lifted Wheeljack's arm over his shoulder as Fixit did the same. "Experimenting with raw energon sound's pretty cool, Wheeljack. I'd love to try out some of those weapons you were talking about."

"You are my new amica endura."

* * *

Suddenly, Alexis called everyone to the house. The Humans and Autobots looked at the television. "People of earth. My name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the Autobots. We come from a planet far from here. We have reason to believe that the Decepticons, our ruthless enemies, may come to your world to harvest it for a mineral that is useless to you but _vital_ to us. Energon. We have agreed to the terms of your leaders to protect you from the Decepticons while we try to safely harvest the energon we need to rebuild our world. We are your friends, not your enemies. 'Til all are one."

The television went back to the previous program and the Autobots and humans rejoiced.

"Wait…" Cliffjumper held up his hands. "Prime's ship was the only one that had energon-finding equipment! What are we supposed to do while we wait for his ship to get here and give us some?" At that moment, a light bulb went off in Goldbug's head.

A few moments later the Autobots were cheering with their human allies as they watched a wrestling program.

"These humans are _awesome!_ " Cliffjumper cheered.

* * *

 **To be continued…**


	4. Intermission 2

**The Transformers will return after these messages:**

* * *

 **He possesses the Matrix of Leadership. His trailer can be used as a battle station. He currently leads the Autobots to wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons. He is… the most** _ **interesting**_ **Cybertronian.**

 **Optimus Prime (Sitting at a table with Elita-One rubbing his shoulders):** I don't _always_ drink. But when I _do_ … I prefer Maccadam's Grade-A Energon. Stay full my comrades.

 **Maccadam's Grade-A Energon**

* * *

 **We now return to the Transformers.**


	5. Decepticons, Rise Up!

**This chapter introduces Autobot Silhouette, my first OC! All other characters belong to Transformers! Warning: Light Arcee x Goldbug fluff at the beginning!**

 **Chapter 3: Decepticons, Transform and Rise Up!**

* * *

It has been two weeks since Optimus Prime, righteous leader of the Autobots, forged an alliance with the governments of the planet Earth. The agreement was rather simple: The Autobots would be free to set up camps across the world to search for enough energon needed to rebuild Cybertron, while protecting the Earth should the Decepticons choose to pillage the Earth for energon themselves. At the same time, Optimus Prime's Autobots offered their services to prevent local crime and terrorism, the United Nations were eager to accept. In a short time, crime rates had dropped substantially across the globe.

Alpha Team, comprised of Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and the last of the Elite Guard, was stationed at Washington, D.C. The other Autobots were stationed near areas where the energon readings were presumed to be the strongest. Beta Team, Goldbug, Arcee, Cliffjumper, Hound, Fixit, and Wheeljack, remained with the Witwickys in Evansville, Indiana. Gamma Team, Ironhide, Chromia, Blurr, and Nautica, was stationed in Mologa, Russia. Delta Team, Sideswipe, Moonracer, and the Dynobots, was stationed in Dallol, Ethiopia. And Omega Team, Rodimus Minor, Red Alert, Firestar, Minerva, Inferno, and Kick-Off, was placed in Brazil. These teams were equipped with the latest in energon-detecting machinery. Once found, the Autobots would dig their way to the energon and keep it rationed. Today would be the first day they tested this equipment.

"I still don't understand that movie, Goldbug." Arcee walked beside her lieutenant with her arm looped through his as they went to meet up with Optimus.

"What's not to understand, Arcee? A group of scientists go to a planet, find an alien, it kills most of them, until the last one shoots it out of the air lock. It's a _classic_."

"But they didn't even _try_ the universal greeting. They just went straight on to try and kill it."

"Arcee… it blew out of that one guy's _chest_. What would _you_ have done if the _Insecticons_ did that to one of your friends?"

Arcee was about to respond when they finally reached the bridge. Goldbug went to Optimus, saluted his commander and took his seat with the others as Wheeljack typed in the necessary coding. In an effort to make things simpler, each mechanic from each team had duplicated Teletraan I's schematics and applied it to their ships, this gave them access to proximity alarms, sky spies, groundbridges, and now, energon detectors.

"Okay," Wheeljack turned around to face his comrades, "first of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming. I have done all that I can to match the schematics, _generously_ provided for us by Optimus Prime, to the _Alchemor's_ Teletraan II. The energon detector will either _work_ … or we'll all be caught in a fiery explosion that will leave no physical evidence of us…" Wheeljack smiled nervously under his mask as his companions gave him mixed expressions of fear and shock. " _Fifty-fifty_ …" Wheeljack muttered as he tilted an opened hand back and forth. Goldbug moved his arm in front of Arcee as Optimus did the same for him. Cliffjumper and Fixit hid behind Hound who closed his eyes and crossed his fingers. Wheeljack hesitated at first, then covered his eyes with one hand and pressed the button with the other. At first, nothing happened and all of the gathered Autobots relaxed a bit.

"Well... didn't _explode_." Cliffjumper shrugged.

Suddenly, a light appeared on the screen, highlighting a particular area. The Autobots rejoiced at the energon signature, based on the screen it was almost two tons of raw energon only 2.6 miles from the base. Optimus Prime congratulated Wheeljack for his mechanical expertise, and Goldbug for reporting the presence of energon on the planet in the first place. After a brief celebration, Optimus bid Beta Team farewell, and left to return to D.C. through the groundbridge.

"So, back to the movie," Arcee turned to Goldbug, "how did they manage to build weapons out of _junk?_ "

"What are you guys talking about?" the big, green Autobot ecologist approached the young couple.

"We went to see a human horror film." Goldbug answered, prompting Hound to raise an eyebrow. "At a _drive-in theatre_." Goldbug rolled his eyes before going back to his girlfriend. " _Fine_ , Arcee, tomorrow, _you_ can decide what we do."

Arcee smiled when the main room's door shut behind them. As they passed down the hall, Arcee leaned closer to Goldbug's audio-receptor and whispered. "Okay. Next week, we'll have a race. And if you _beat_ me… I'll _rotate_ your _tires_. If you know what I _mean_." At that last sentence, Goldbug's eyes dilated as he began to breathe heavily with a thin stream of energon running out of his nose.

* * *

"Autobots, this is Optimus Prime. Alpha and Beta Team's gear is functioning at full capacity," Optimus spoke into Teletraan I's communicator, "All team's report status."

"Gamma Team, operational, Prime." A husky southern voice came from Teletraan III's frequency.

"Delta Teams _good_." Teletraan IV's frequency came in strong, "SLUDGE! STOP CHEWING ON YOUR TAIL!"

"Omega Team, roaring and ready to go!" Rodimus cheered.

"Well done, Autobots." Optimus praised his soldiers, "Go forth, and harvest the energon. Optimus Prime: Over and out." Optimus turned off the com-link, leaving on the visual feed of the energon readings. Optimus turned to his second-in-command and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ultra Magnus, old friend," Optimus showed an obvious worry in his eyes, "I have a special assignment for you. It is a rather _dangerous_ mission, but it is _necessary_."

"Of _course_ , Prime." Ultra Magnus nodded. Magnus had been the commander of the Elite Guard since the war began. With the death of Convoy Magnus, Ultra Major was promoted by the High Council to serve as Optimus Prime's second-in-command. Ever since then, he had always trusted Prime with his life, and vice versa. "What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to take a small platoon to Nebulous and recover whatever you can of our fallen comrades. They deserve to be laid to rest properly. But please… _please_ be careful. I want a detailed evaluation of what happens. Every step you take. If, at any moment, you find a situation too dangerous, return _immediately_. Do you _understand?_ "

"Of course. As you command, Optimus Prime." Ultra Magnus saluted and turned to activate the intercom. "This is Ultra Magnus. Dai Atlas, Star Saber, Metalhawk, Drift, Smokescreen, Silhouette, report to the _Ark's_ auxiliary deployment shuttle. We've got a _suicide mission_ on our hands."

With a final salute, Ultra Magnus transformed and rolled to meet up with his fellow guardsman. After bidding his closest comrade farewell, Optimus turned his attention back to the screen and sighed deeply. "Now, all we need is a little energon… and a _lot_ of luck." Yet Optimus was so focused on the screen, he failed to notice the metallic condor fly out of the _Ark_ and off into space.

* * *

"Smokescreen! This is so _exciting!_ " Silhouette, the youngest member of the Elite Guard, bounced around her older brother as they sat in the _Ark's_ auxiliary shuttle. "Ultra Magnus chose _us_ , Smokescreen! _US!_ Don't you feel excited?!"

"I'd feel _more_ excited if you weren't screaming into my audio-receptor." Smokescreen chuckled at his sister's naivety.

"Where do you think Ultra Magnus will send me when we get to Nebulous?"

"Oh, _no_. I had a little chat with Magnus earlier. You're staying right beside _me_ at all times."

"Awwww, Smoke- _screeeeeeeeeen!_ I wanted to be with _Star Saber!_ He's so _cool!_ " Silhouette whined before her brother placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Silhouette, do you remember how our molder died?" Silhouette shifted her eyes down as she rubbed her arm.

" _Yes_." she started to cry a little. "She suffered for cycles as the cosmic rust plague ate away her spark."

"And before she finally passed, she made me promise to keep you safe. That's _it_. I _need_ you by my side." Smokescreen pulled his sister into a tight hug until they were both interrupted by another Autobot's voice.

"Ah, your familial love is comforting." Drift teased as the siblings looked at him, annoyed. " _Loyalty is but a flower in the winds of fear and temptation._ "

"What the _Smelting Furnace_ are you saying?" Smokescreen lifted an eyebrow.

"It's a _haiku_."

"Cut the scrap, before I drop a _smoke grenade_ down your throat!" As Smokescreen grabbed Drift's shoulder in annoyance, the ninja-bot drew his sword and held it to Smokescreen's neck.

"Try it, you'll be dead!"

"Oh, please, pull it. I'm begging you. Please, do it."

"That's enough!" Dai Atlas drew the attention of the three Autobots. "I just thought you all should know… we're _there_." The Autobots joined Ultra Magnus at the ships exit.

"Autobots. We will all stick _together_ unless I say otherwise, _understood?_ "

"Sir, yes sir!" The troops saluted in unison as the hatch opened.

"Alright then, Elite Guard, _transform_ and _roll out!_ "

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Nebulan leader, Lord Zarak walked alongside the head scientist, Krunk, as they entered the laboratory. All around them, Nebulan scientists were melting down the corpses of Autobots and Decepticons alike. At first, Lord Zarak was pleased at the progress being made in the labs, be his pleasure turned to bitter anger once he reached the Nebulans' main project.

"I don't understand, Krunk." Zarak gritted his teeth as he grabbed the data pad. "I wanted Headmaster 1's primary colors to be white. So, why does it keep turning _purple_ and _gray?_ "

"Sir, w-we have tried-"

"Also… I wanted it to be a _headmaster_ for me, yet this data tells me that the head possesses _no_ headmaster technology."

"Y-yes, sir, but-"

"And this is the most _important_ part: I wanted Headmaster 1 to look heroic, like Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus… so will _someone_ please _explain_ to me, WHY DOES IT KEEP LOOKING LIKE _MEGATRON!_ "

"Sir, we have _no idea_ but we are working on it."

"Why does it have _horns?_ Is _that_ another bug?"

"Oh, no sir. It's supposed to be a _crown_. We thought you'd like it."

"Well, I _hate_ it." Zarak rubbed his brow in frustration before exhaling loudly. "Alright… close it down for today." The scientists deactivated the computers and closed everything down. Yet as soon as the last scientist locked the door, one computer's screen lit up. The screen shifted down, it rose above the ground on two appendages, two arms folded out of the side, and a head rose up and a red visor lit up. The white robot approached Headmaster 1 and reactivated a few of the lights. He pressed a button on his left shoulder and a yellow metallic condor flew to the ceiling to connect a necessary cable. Then, the same button launched a robotic panther out of the white robot's chest, connecting another cable. Finally, Headmaster 1 shook as the electricity flowed through him, and the white robot stabbed a glowing, purple crystal into the Nebulan project's chest. The room grew quiet for a moment as the crystal retracted into Headmaster 1. Suddenly, its eyes opened and looked down at its hands.

"Where… _am_ I?" Headmaster 1 ripped himself free of the cables. He walked two paces forward before noticing the white robot kneeling before him.

"Allow me to explain, my master." The white robot began in a deep, monotone voice, "Your body was destroyed by the Autobots and Nebulans, reduced to its protoform. The other Decepticons, believing you had perished, fled the planet, as I almost did. But, before I could leave, I sensed an anomaly emitting from your body, your _spark_ had _survived_. Knowing that I could not reach you directly, I allowed the Nebulans to rebuild your physical form, while I took the form of one of their computers, secretly altering it to better resemble a form you would like, while simultaneously keeping your consciousness in check. After the final stage was complete, I injected you with the last of our dark energon to give your spark the jumpstart it would need. And now, Lord Megatron, I may finally serve you _again_ … in my _true_ colors." The robot's colors shifted from white to a dark blue, while a purple Decepticon insignia appeared on the transparent screen on his chest.

Megatron smiled as he lifted his palm. " _Arise_ , Soundwave. My most _loyal_ soldier." Soundwave stood before Megatron and recalled Buzzsaw and Ravage. Then he reached from his back and pulled out a long, smooth tunnel.

"Your fusion cannon, my liege." Soundwave bowed again as Megatron adjusted the cannon to his arm, admiring Soundwave's modifications. "It can now connect directly to the dark energon within your spark, granting it even more power." Megatron raised his arm towards the labs main computer and fired a devastating blast that shook the entire compound. This alerted the lab's security and Zarak, himself.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" Zarak yelled before freezing in his tracks at the sight of Megatron. He wanted to order his men to open fire, but they, too, were paralyzed with fear. Megatron walked over and pressed Zarak between his thumb and forefinger.

"You are not worthy enough to be destroyed by this magnificent weapon. So, I shall _crush_ you with my _bare hand_." Megatron squeezed the Nebulan until he finally popped and sprayed blood everywhere.

"What of the rest of this planet, Lord Megatron?"

Megatron looked at the molten metal that once was his grand army. "Let it never be said that Megatron allowed a species to wrong him without facing the consequences. _Cleanse it_."

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Soundwave smiled under his mask and pressed the button on his shoulder. "Rumble, Frenzy, Enemy, Flip-sides, Ravage, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Overkill, Slugfest, Squawktalk, Beastbox, Garboil: Eject. Operation: _Extinction!_ "

* * *

Ultra Magnus and the Elite Guard walked through the halls of the Nebulan laboratory. The facility was dark and ominous. Despite his steely demeanor, Ultra Magnus was terrified.

"Ultra Magnus, I think you better come look at this." Star Saber motioned to the commander. The Elite Guard met Star Saber at a computer screen displaying the Nebulans killing other Autobots. They watched in horror as Prowl, Brawn, Armorhide, Tracks, Bluestreak, and other friends lose their lives. But a final video ignited a righteous fury in Ultra Magnus' spark.

"THEY SLAUGHTERED RATCHET!" He bellowed as he struck the computer screen. "They didn't even leave anything to lay to rest."

"Ultra Magnus!" Silhouette called her commander over to another part of the lab. The Elite Guard saw five robotic constructions. The constructions had different vehicular parts, yet their colors were completely identical: orange, white, and brown. Two of them were curved a bit more than the others, as if to resemble females. Ultra Magnus noticed the emptiness of these constructs, and an idea formed in his head.

"Were these robots made from Autobot parts?" Ultra Magnus motioned Metalhawk to one of the computers.

"No, sir." Metalhawk answered, "The logs state that their made from Decepticons."

"Alright, Smokescreen, Silhouette: take these five to the ship. Metalhawk, Dai Atlas, Star Saber, Drift: with me. Let's keep looking."

"Yes, sir." the troops nodded and did as they were told.

As Smokescreen and Silhouette left with the artificial robots, the remaining Guard went into the next room and saw something even more horrific. Soundwave and his cassettes were creating untold carnage in the lab. Rumble was jumping around and smashing scientists with his pile drivers while his brother, Frenzy, fried their brains with his sonic scream. Ravage and Garboil chewed on their victims as the others simply ripped the Nebulans to shreds. Finally, Ultra Magnus reached for his communicator as he saw the tall, purple Decepticon with a familiar face.

"Prime! If you can read me, this is Magnus. It's Megatron. He's alive!"

"You may as well show yourselves," the Elite Guard froze in fear, "I can sense your presence." The Elite Guard steeled their nerves and stepped out to face Megatron. "Well, well, _well_. If it isn't the great Ultra Magnus… and his _pack_. I see you _survived_."

"Surprised?"

"Not really." Megatron continued, "I have always respected your strength and tactical mind. If any _one_ Autobot survived, I knew it would be you. But neither of those will help you against the _full power_ of _dark energon_." Megatron raised his cannon and fired directly at Metalhawk. The golden Autobot shook for a moment, then purple cracks of light spread across his body, and finally, he exploded into shards, knocking everyone down. Megatron chuckled as he stepped closer to Ultra Magnus, who struggled to get up. "I would have waited an _eternity_ for this moment, my big, blue friend. At _last_ the Autobots have met their match."

"Not… as long… as… my _spark_ … still _glows!_ " Ultra Magnus stood up and fired his shoulder rockets at the Decepticon leader, sending him flying through the wall. By the time Megatron recovered, Dai Atlas, Drift, and Star Saber had drawn their swords as Ultra Magnus wielded his war hammer. "In the name of Cybertron's Elite Guard, by the authority of Optimus Prime, you're under arrest, Decepticons."

Megatron stood up steadily. With a flick of his wrist, a long sword extended from the bottom of his fusion cannon. "It's _war_ , then." The sword ignited in a purple flame and Megatron leapt into the air. Landing right in front of Dai Atlas, Megatron ran the blade straight through the Autobot, slicing his spark in half. Next, Ultra Magnus and Star Saber attempted to land their weapons on Megatron, but he simply blocked both of them and pushed them back with a pulse of dark energon.

Drift attempted to slide behind the towering Megatron, but he did not anticipate that the Decepticon would be as fast as he was big. Megatron grabbed Drift by the chest-plate, and decapitated the Autobot with his own sword. Star Saber managed to stand up and aim his blaster at Megatron, but he found himself unable to fire. He began to choke on something, his hands shook until he dropped his weapon, and he began to rise into the air. Two tentacles were drilling their way into his abdomen, lifting him higher and higher as they turned him around. Star Saber finally faced Soundwave as the light faded from his eyes.

"Soundwave: superior. Autobots: inferior."

"NO!"

Ultra Magnus picked his hammer back up and charged at Megatron. With rage aching in his spark, Ultra Magnus struck Megatron square in the chest, sending him into the ground. Then, he knocked Megatron aside into another laboratory. Magnus almost struck Megatron again before Soundwave fired several missiles into the Autobot commander's back. Magnus' armor began to crumble as he turned around to face Soundwave. Unfortunately, Megatron leapt up and dug his blade into Ultra Magnus' shoulder, and sliced upward, nearly cutting it clean off. The pain was too much, and the Autobot veteran fell to the ground.

Ultra Magnus lay caked in the energon of his fallen brothers as he silently shed tears of regret. He had failed the Elite Guard, he had failed his friends, but worst of all, he had failed Optimus. Magnus screamed in pain as Megatron crushed the Autobot's hand. "It's _over_ , Magnus." Megatron charged his cannon before four objects crashed through the windows. Almost instantly, the room was filled with black smoke, and the three Cybertronians were blind. Smokescreen and Silhouette raced in, grabbed Magnus, and rushed back to the ship. As Silhouette helped Magnus to his seat, Smokescreen sat in the pilot's chair.

"Huh, I always _wanted_ to fly one of these." As soon as they were airborne, Smokescreen set the coordinates for earth and activated the hyper-drive. Megatron and Soundwave emerged from the smoke-filled lab just in time to see their enemies escape. He could have gone after them, but Megatron had more important things on his mind. "You know, Soundwave," Megatron began as his first lieutenant recalled his cassettes, "when Orion gained the Matrix, he changed his name. This dark energon is surely a _match_ for the Matrix. I wonder…"

* * *

On the distant planet Charr, Starscream began to give his speech to the Decepticons as his brother, Skywarp, placed the crown on his head. Suddenly, a two Cybertronian jets flew in and blasted Starscream off of the podium. As he lay helplessly on the ground, he snarled at his attackers.

"Who disrupts my coronation?!"

" _Coronation_ , Starscream?" Megatron laughed as he transformed, "This is _bad comedy_ ,"

"Megatron? Is that _you?_ "

"Here's a _hint_." Megatron grabbed Starscream by the mouth and tore his jaws open wide enough for Megatron to press his fusion cannon inside. Starscream flailed in desperation as a deep hum came from Megatron's weapon. "I have changed. I will pick up where I left off, and finally return Cybertron to its former glory! But, we are _through_ being lenient with traitors! I am the _future!_ I am the _liberator!_ I! AM! GALVATRON!" With that, Galvatron unleashed the full power of his fusion cannon, and vaporized Starscream into dust. Galvatron turned to the other Decepticons with a menacing glare. "Will anyone _else_ attempt to fill his shoes?"

"What'd he say his name was?" Skywarp asked.

" _Galvatron!_ "

"LONG LIVE GALVATRON! GALVATRON!" Galvatron cackled as Decepticons cheered his name. Suddenly, Soundwave drew his attention.

"Laserbeak returns, Galvatron."

"Welcome, Laserbeak." Galvatron petted the metallic condor as he landed on Galvatron's arm, "Unlike some of my _other_ warriors, _you_ never fail me. Soundwave, play back Laserbeak's findings."

"As you command, Galvatron." Soundwave recalled Laserbeak and transformed into his computer-mode. After connecting to the screen, Galvatron saw the message of Optimus' announcement of the energon present on earth. A wicked grin appeared on Galvatron's face and he turned to face his army. "Decepticons! Board the ships! Set course for this primitive planet! We will bleed it dry of its energon until we have enough to return Cybertron to its former glory! Go forth!" The Decepticons cheered as they boarded their flagship, the _Nemesis_. Before joining his soldiers, Galvatron turned back to view the remainder of the message.

"Now, all we need is a little energon… and a _lot_ of _luck_."

"More than you _imagine_ , Optimus Prime." Galvatron cackled as the message ended.

* * *

 **To be continued!**


	6. Wild Ride!

**Chapter 4: New Arrivals! Good and Bad!**

 **This chapter will involve some Transformer termers I made up. To make it less confusing, here's a key:**

 **Maker = Father**

 **Molder = Mother**

 **Make = Son**

 **Mold = Daughter**

* * *

Goldbug and Arcee let Spike and Carly out before they transformed to stretch. Their two human allies had brought them to an abandoned race track outside of town to have Arcee's proposed race. The track had several twists, turns, and other obstacles that were almost worthy for Velocitron. As they stretched, the humans acted as coaches.

"Now, just give it you're _all_ , Goldbug!" Spike said, "Remember: float like a butterfly, sting like a _Bumble_ bee!"

"Hahahahaha, never heard _that_ before." Goldbug replied sarcastically.

"Hey, don't be mad at me because your parents named you that." Spike raised his hands in defense.

"They _didn't_."

"Huh?"

"That was just a nickname given to me by my drill sergeant, did you really think my maker and molder hated me enough to name me 'Bumblebee'?"

"Oh… so, what's your _real_ name?"

"Well, to most species we've met, Cybertronian names are _unpronounceable_. But, if you _really_ want to know, my real name is…" At that moment, a high pitched static-like wail came from Goldbug's mouth, causing Spike to cover his ears. After Goldbug finished, Spike looked back up at his friend.

"We'll stick with 'Goldbug'." Spike muttered as he cleaned out his ears. "So, what do you get if you win?" Goldbug rubbed the back of his neck as his face turned red.

Meanwhile, Carly was having a similar conversation with Arcee.

"So, you _do_ see each other that way?" Carly raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. We both like each other, and he's really sweet." Arcee replied.

"That's nice." Carly said as Arcee leaned closer to her human friend.

"And besides, have you _seen_ that 'bot's _anacondas?_ "

"What?" Carly's eyes widened as Arcee stood back up and flexed her arms to demonstrate. "Oh! Aheh, you mean ' _pythons_.' See, ' _anaconda_ ' means…" Arcee leaned in again as Carly explained the metaphor.

"I see…" Arcee placed a hand over her mouth. "I'll watch out for that."

After they felt comfortable enough, the Autobots converted back to their alt-modes and revved up their engines. Carly stood in between them as Spike took a seat in the booths.

"On your mark, get set… _go!_ " The Autobots took off down the stretch of road at a speed that nearly knocked Carly down. Arcee had gotten a lucky chance, swerving around the roadblocks and pieces of tore tires. As she entered the tunnel, she saw Goldbug in her rear-view mirror, just a few feet behind her.

"Whelp, sorry, 'Bug! Tell you what, if I feel _sorry_ for you, I'll at _least_ give you a _kiss!_ "

"Hahaha, hey, Arcee, are you hungry?" Goldbug replied.

"Hungry?" Arcee was a bit perplexed at the question, "Maybe, why?"

"Because in a few moments, you're gonna _eat my dust!_ " with that, Goldbug sped in front of Arcee, out of the tunnel, and off of a ramp. All the while, Goldbug amused himself by playing _Jump_ by Van Halen as he landed back on the ground. Keeping a close watch to make sure that Arcee was still behind him, Goldbug was only half a mile away from the finish line. Yet, unexpectedly, Arcee managed to catch up with him again. For a moment, Goldbug and Arcee were both neck and neck as they neared the finish line. Suddenly, they were blow apart from each other by a powerful blast. Goldbug was relieved to see Arcee unharmed as she rubbed the back of her head, then to see Spike at Carly's side. He helped up Arcee and the two Autobots went over to the humans.

"What was _that?_ " Carly rubbed her shoulder as an unknown voice answered her question.

"Oooh! Oooh!Pick _me!_ Pick _me!_ I _know_ this one! Pick _me!_ "

The group froze and turned their heads to see another robot holding a giant gun. This robot was mostly black with a red face and red arms and a purple Decepticon insignia on his chest. He had two spikes coming out of the sides of his head and even more coming out of his joints and back. But despite his menacing features, there was nothing more frightening than his wicked smile.

" _Wildrider_ …" Goldbug clenched his fist as his mask slide onto his face, but the Decepticon just shook his head and stared in disbelief.

"Bumblebee, old 'bot, is that _really_ you?!"

"You two know each other?" Spike asked.

"We have a _history_." Goldbug muttered.

"And you have a _pet_." Wildrider laughed as he lifted his gun onto his shoulder and pulled a tree out of the ground. "Does it play fetch?" The Decepticon flung the tree at Goldbug's friend while still laughing manically. "CATCH!"

Spike rushed to shield his wife, fortunately Goldbug knocked the tree away and converted his right arm into a pulse cannon. "Spike, Carly, stay down!" As Arcee drew her swords, Goldbug fired at the Decepticon. Wildrider's eyes widened as he stepped out of the way to avoid the blast.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Nice shooting! If you were aiming for the _sky!_ " Wildrider jumped down and fired at Goldbug. While the gilded Autobot narrowly dodged his arch-nemesis' blasts, Arcee dashed over to the Decepticon with a menacing scowl. While Arcee managed to graze his arm, Wildrider maneuvered from her vicious swords until she finally had to stop to catch her breath.

"Y'know," Wildrider chuckled, "if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to _kill_ me."

It was then that Wildrider extended the spikes on his arm and slashed Arcee across the face. As she doubled backwards, Wildrider shot her through the spark, and then through the head. Another maniacal laugh crept out of the Decepticon's mouth as he turned around to face Goldbug, who, surprisingly, already had a bead on him. Wildrider raised his hands in defense.

"Oh, that's _right!_ You _kill_ people now! Hehehehehehehe!"

"That's not _true!_ " Goldbug yelled.

"It's _not?_ So, Fracture just died of a spark-attack so strong, it blew his chest open?" Goldbug flinched a little, provoking Wildrider to step back. But to Goldbug's surprise, Wildrider dropped his gun and stepped forward a little. "Okay, _fine!_ Prove me _right!_ I won't stop you, go ahead! Pull the trigger! Kill me, now! Knock me off the chopping block!"

Goldbug clenched his teeth under his mask, ready to shoot, but the Decepticon's words had cut deep. Fracture was a personal vendetta, one which Goldbug was lucky he wasn't imprisoned for by Optimus, himself. Wildrider would be a prisoner of war and one of Goldbug's past mistakes. He lowered the gun as Wildrider laughed again before pinning him to the ground under his foot. Goldbug waited for Wildrider to finish him off when he heard a distinct beeping sound.

"Oh," Wildrider holstered his gun as he pressed a button on his arm, "hold on, I need to take this." Wildrider pushed another button, opening a channel with Motor Master. "Yo, MM! How's it going, you big, bad semi?"

"Wildrider, you are to report back to base. Galvatron gave us a new assignment."

"You always had lousy _timing_ , MM! I'm about to kill Bumblebee!"

"Wildrider…Knock Out made the _list_." Motor Master ended the last sentence with an amused smirk.

"Ooooooooh, been a _while_ since I kill a 'con!" Wildrider spoke with pure glee as he went back to his superior. "Alright, I'll be back in a moment." Wildrider looked down at Goldbug, "Well, it's been a Unicron of a time, but I really need to go. Tah tah!" Wildrider stepped off of Goldbug and took one final glance at the humans.

"Who _are_ you?" Spike asked.

"Hehehehehe! I'm the Decepticon Daredevil! The Ferrari of Ferocity! The Car-prince of Crime! I am… _Wildrider!_ And it's all Bumblebee's fault!" With a final laugh, Wildrider transformed into a Ferrari and drove off. Spike and Carly ran over to Arcee's side as Goldbug did. Goldbug looked down at Arcee's body and he sobbed as he crested her in his arms. But, to his surprise, she pushed away from him to reveal that her wounds had healed.

"Oh! Right," Goldbug chuckled as Arcee smirked, "I keep forgetting."

"Goldbug," Carly spoke to the Autobot couple in confusion, "Wildrider said that he was _your_ fault. How is that _possible?_ " Goldbug sighed and helped Arcee up.

"I'll tell you when we get back to base."

* * *

A few hours later, in an abandoned warehouse in New York City, a group of vehicon soldiers stood in their main room as their boss, Knock Out, sat at his desk. After the death of Megatron, there were several Decepticon warriors who had artificially grow their own private armies of vehicons to take control over their own sections of the universe. Knock Out had planned to take control of earth after falling in love with the planet's design in automobiles. Unfortunately, his sudden rise to power had gone to his head. So much, he began to place bounties on his former Decepticon allies.

"Mister Knock Out, sir?" The red Decepticon turned around to face the soldier who had called him. "There's a group of vehicons here who have killed Wildrider." Soon enough, Knock Out witnessed a group of vehicons carry the lifeless husk of Wildrider into the room, and place it on the desk. Knock Out smirked to himself, being a boss was goin to be fun.

"Alright." Knock Out turned back to the group, "dead, he's worth _twenty five_ energon cubes."

Suddenly, Wildrider bolted up, and grabbed Knock Out by the shoulders. Before he knew it, Knock Out's bodyguards were pinned to the ground by the other vehicons as Wildrider held a spike to his throat.

"How much _alive?_ " Wildrider cackled. "You look _nervous_. Is it the _spikes?_ Wanna know how I got 'em?" Wildrider licked his lips as Knock Out stood frozen in horror. "My maker was a _scientist_ … and a _sadist_ … and a _psychopath_ … and one night, he goes off _crazier_ than usual. Hold's up a syringe, claiming that the _formula_ will redefine _transformation_. Molder grabs one of his scalpels to defend her. He doesn't like that. Not. One. _Bit_. So, me watching, he turns the scalpel on _her_ , _laughing_ while he does it… turns to me and says 'why so _normal?_ ' Comes at _me_ with the _syringe_. 'Why so _normal?!_ ' Sticks the needle in my neck. 'Let's make you a bit more _exciting!_ ' And…" Wildrider looked over at one of Knock Out's vehicons and smiled, "… why so normal?" The vehicon closed his eyes as Wildrider shoved the spike into Knock Out's neck. "Well, _that_ was exciting!"

* * *

Back at the _Alchemor_ , Goldbug led Arcee and the humans to Teletraan II. Where Goldbug started typing the necessary data into the keyboard. "Wildrider likes to make up stories about how it happened, but the truth was seared into my memory. Hound's holo-technology was duplicated into the ship, I'll just plug myself in." Goldbug took a cord and attached it to his head. In no time at all, a hologram appeared from the screen. It was a dark and stormy night near an experimental lab in Iacon, and Bumblebee was chasing a blue car through the streets. The blue car transformed, revealing a helmet that masked his face on his head. Bumblebee chased the convicted 'bot up the stairway to the lab's entrance. Before long, the two were on the walkway over vats of experimental chemicals. The blue convict tripped and screamed in fear as Bumblebee got closer.

"No! It's a _set up!_ They _blackmailed_ me! Just, wait! Please!" Bumblebee took out a pair of stasis cuffs from his back, provoking an even more frightened reaction from the blue 'bot. "I'm not a 'con! I _swear!_ Look!" The 'bot tried to pull his helmet off, but he tripped and fell. Bumblebee looked in horror as the 'bot struggled to crawl out of the vat.

"Oh, Primus! Are you alright?!"

"Of _course not!_ " The 'bot snarled as he still struggled with his helmet, "If I could just get this slaggin' helmet off… so I can-" finally the helmet came off and the 'bot saw his reflection as Bumblebee stumbled back from shock. "… see." The 'bot pressed his hands against his face as he sobbed at the spikes coming out of his body and his new colors. But to Bumblebee's shock, the 'bot stood up, and his sobbing changed to something else. "Heh. Hee hee. Ha ha ha ha ha. Hehahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Erhm… AH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The video ended and Goldbug hung his head. Arcee tried to comfort him by giving him a kiss, which he accepted. To Arcee's surprise, Goldbug wanted to drown his sorrows so badly, he took it in even more. The kiss began to grow with intensity, until finally, Spike and Carly left as Goldbug reached under Arcee's hood while she wrapped her legs around him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fixit was walking through the scrap yard when a ship crashed a few feet away. He drew his gun and entered the ship, only to gasp in horror at the sight of Ultra Magnus' leaking body. "Ultra Magnus! What happened?! Where's your hammer?! Where's the rest of the Elite Guard?! Who did this?!"

Ultra Magnus could only utter a single word before passing out. "Mega… tron…"

* * *

 **To be continued!**

 **Starring: Mark Hamil as Wildrider**

 **If you don't understand who Wildrider is supposed to be, you are culturally impaired.**


	7. Perceptor's Idea!

**Chapter 5: Perceptor's Idea!**

* * *

With the help of Silhouette and Smokescreen, Fixit carried Ultra Magnus' broken body to the medical wing for repairs. After laying the commander on the operating table, the Autobot medic attached several cables to Ultra Magnus' vital systems, pumping energon directly into his body. As soon as Ultra Magnus was stable, Fixit went to Teletraan II, activated the groundbridge and opened a channel to Omega Team.

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT! RED ALERT!" Soon enough, Rodimus Major, Firestar, Minerva, Inferno, and Kick Off rushed out of the vortex.

"Fixit?! What's wrong?! What do you need _us_ for?!" Rodimus spoke rapidly before Fixit waved his arms in frustration.

" _No_ , not _that_ kind of red alert!" Finally, a white a red robot with blue lights flashing on his head emerged from the groundbridge. " _That_ kind!" As Fixit grabbed Red Alert and rushed him to the medical wing, Hound, Cliffjumper, and Wheeljack sped around the corner, only to crash into their visitors. Kick Off had managed to move out of the way, so he helped Inferno and Firestar up. Wheeljack and Minerva helped each other as Hound and Cliffjumper picked up the flame-branded Autobot. As Hound got a better look at Rodimus, a grin spread across his face.

"Ha! Hey 'Jack, Cliff', check it out!" Rodimus began to smile to himself as Hound pointed in his direction. Maybe this big, green, 'bot was a fan. "It's Hot Shot!" Rodimus' face fell immediately.

"Hot… _Rod_." He deadpanned.

"Oh! _Sorry_. 'Rod'." Hound corrected himself before going back to his friends, who were holding back their laughter at Rodimus' obvious disdain. "I saw him do a show back on Cybertron, once, before the war! It crashed and burned! _Literally!_ Took an entire team to put it out! That's why he went with the _code name_." Rodimus grabbed Hound's shoulder and spun him around.

"I'll have you _know_ , I paid for _all_ the damages! And it's not a _code name!_ It's a _stage name_ , a _daredevil name!_ "

"Aw, don't get your pistons in a bunch, kid!" Hound patted Rodimus on the shoulder, "It's _cool_ to have a code name."

Meanwhile, in the medical ward, Fixit and Red Alert were struggling to keep their superior officer alive. Ultra Magnus was a symbol of strength in the Autobot army, a sign that no matter how bad things get, there's always hope that they can rise above their fears and come out on top. If that symbol were to die, there's no telling what would become of the Autobots.

"Red Alert, where's my scalpel? I _need_ it!"

"I don't know! Don't you think I'm stressed enough?!" The other medic screamed in frustration. "Y'know, it'd _help_ if we allowed my _nurse_ in here!"

"You said she was only a trainee!" Fixit snapped, "We can't afford any _slip-ups!_ "

"Well, is that how your _commander_ feels?"

"He…" Fixit rubbed his chin for a moment, "Come to think of it… I didn't _see_ Goldbug when the alarm went off. Can you take care of Magnus for a moment?"

"Sure, why?" Red Alert tried to hide his nervousness, but the flashing lights on his head gave him away. Nevertheless, Fixit went to look for his gilded lieutenant. As he went down the halls, he heard a noise coming from Goldbug's room, a clanging noise similar to a struggle. Could a Decepticon have broken into the _Alchemor_ and found Goldbug's quarters? If so, Fixit needed to help! Without hesitation, the medic broke down the door and pointed his gun menacingly.

"ALRIGHT! PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN-" Fixit's eyes widened in shock as he realized what he was looking at. Arcee had Goldbug pinned under her, with both of her arms on his shoulders while he reached up under her hood. Most of their extra armor was removed and lying on the floor, accompanied by two half-empty energon cubes, and to top it off, Goldbug's radio was tuned in to Bob Seger's _Night Moves_. Goldbug and Arcee just stared back for a few moments before Arcee finally broke the silence.

"Let's be _honest_ , Fixit, this is _not_ the first time this has ever happened on your ship."

Fixit turned away and blushed brightly as he covered his face. "I just thought you should _know_ ," he breathed through his teeth, "Ultra Magnus is dying in our medical wing." Goldbug and Arcee bolted up in disbelief. "And I summoned Omega Team for Red Alert, but they _all_ came." Gold bug and Arcee let their jaws fall to the floor. They immediately began to put their armor back on as Fixit left.

"Sorry…" Goldbug muttered to his girlfriend.

"No, no, it's okay." Arcee assured him as she straightened her breastplate, "We'll try again another time. Right now, _you_ need to take charge. There will be an _explosion_ of confusion and fear, _you_ need to try and contain the blast. And you _can_."

"Thanks, Arcee." Goldbug put on the last of his armor and opened the door.

"Oh, and Goldbug?" Arcee called out as she was still putting her leg armor back on. Goldbug turned around to face her before heading to the medical wing, noticing her smile and high eyebrow. "You were _good_."

* * *

Meanwhile, onboard the Decepticon flagship, Wildrider was taking prideful strides towards the command center. As he walked, other Decepticons and vehicons hurried to get out of his way, causing a smug grin to spread across his face. Before long, Wildrider entered the command center, which was already occupied by the other Stunticons, five vehicons, and Galvatron.

"You're _late_ ," a yellow Tyrrell P34 transformed to reveal a slender Decepticon femme, "I told you, Motor Master, _I_ should have been assigned that mission!"

"Oh, _Dragstrip_ ," Wildrider cut in, "You really should learn to keep that fat mouth of yours _shut_. It'll get you into so much _trouble_."

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that!" Dragstrip slapped Wildrider across the face, replacing his smirk with a scowl.

"No sense of _humor_ …" He began, "You honestly think you're _safe_ from me? Just give me _twenty minutes_ and a _rusty ax_ , and I'll have you _whimpering like a school-femme_. You might _like_ it!"

"That's enough, you two!" both of the Stunticons straightened themselves and faced Galvatron. "Wildrider, where is Knock Out?"

"Well, Lord Galvatron," Wildrider began to pace around the room, "I got a little carried away, so the _best_ way to describe it is: he's over _there_ , over _there_ , and up _there_."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, my friend," Galvatron smiled at the black and red Decepticon's wicked humor, "So much that, I am willing to make you and your fellow Stunticons a proposition." The five Stunticons sat down, and listened to their leader with open ears. "You see, I have been monitoring the Autobots' patterns. Where they found the energon, when they harvest it, who looks after it. I need a certain group to go down and cause _distractions_. Once we have enough energon, we will return Cybertron to its former glory. I would like for _you_ _five_ to be in charge of these distractions. We will provide you with whatever you need if we can. But only if you are _capable_."

Wildrider coughed and scratched his throat. "May I have some energon?" Galvatron motioned for a vehicon to hand the black Stunticon a small cube. Wildrider sipped out the cube's entire contents and counted the vehicons in the room. Once he and the other Stunticons shared a knowing look, Wildrider shattered his cube and slit the throat of the vehicon closest to him. Motor Master stood up quickly and crushed another vehicon's head, Dragstrip slinked her body around another and snapped his neck, while Breakdown and Dead End slammed the two remaining vehicons together, and began to punch through them, rapidly, until their fists had completely gone through. Galvatron clapped at their performance as Motor Master walked back up to his leader.

"We're going to need some hideouts."

"And a way to get back to the _Nemesis_ if things get tricky." Breakdown cut in.

"Of course," Galvatron smiled, "anything _else?_ "

"Yeah, we'll each need some _guys_." Wildrider said before looking down at the vehicons on the floor. "Not _these_ guys, because, well, they're kinda _dead_ … heeheeheehahahahahaha!"

As the Stunticons left, Galvatron stood up to look out of his quarters' window. The _Nemesis_ had been positioned on the dark side of earth's moon to hide it from the Autobots' detection equipment. As he gazed into the infinite blackness of space, Galvatron wondered if there could have been any surviving Decepticons searching for their leader. While the vehicons possessed admirable fighting prowess, they lacked anything resembling a true spark to give them sentience, they were cannon fodder. After gaining an eyeful, Galvatron turned back to his desk to make arrangements for setting up the Stunticons' headquarters. But, unexpectedly, he found one of his old memory logs. He placed it on the desk and pressed a green button, activating a hologram of a time before the war when he was but a gladiator.

The hologram showed Megatron viciously kill a fellow Cybertronian and stand before its corpse. "The Functionalist ways of Cybertron are a _curse_ , my brothers! What kind of world must we live in where brother fights brother for mere _sport!?_ I will fight our oppressors! Fight for freedom! Fight them until I cannot fight any _longer!_ And I ask: will you fight _with_ me, brothers!?" The crowd cheered at Megatron's words as he basked in their applause. A short time later, Megatron was walking through the streets of Tarn, when he heard a struggle happening between two gladiators and another 'bot he had never seen before.

"We don't _want_ your kind here, _functionalist!_ " one gladiator kicked the 'bot in the stomach as the other kicked him in the back. Yet the two gladiators stopped at the sound of a familiar voice.

"He's no functionalist, you fools!" Megatron helped the 'bot back up. "He is of _our_ caste. Not _gladiator_ , obviously, but lower caste, nonetheless. Leave us." The two gladiators ran away as Megatron went back to the newcomer. "I apologize on behalf of my fellow gladiators, may I ask who you are, and what you are doing here, of all places?"

"My name is Orion Pax," the robot spoke with a strong voice despite his short stature, "I am an archivist from Iacon. I wished to see you in person. I have been _amazed_ by your speeches of freedom." Megatron began to show interest in this 'bot's words.

"I thought the people of Iacon weren't _allowed_ to go outside of the city?"

"How could I _not?_ I have a _mind_ and a _spark_. I have _free will_. What use is it if I do not _use_ it? I wish to fight _with_ you. I have been doing research, and I believe that we can convince the High Council that the Primes are _ruining_ Cybertron. Cybertron is _my_ home as much as _yours_ … will you let me help to _free_ it?"

"Orion…" Megatron chuckled as he patted Orion on the shoulder and began to walk with him. "I can already _tell_ you… you and I are going to be _very good friends_." The log ended, leaving Galvatron to stare down at his desk in silence. Finally, he smashed the log under his fist with an angered yell.

* * *

Back at the _Alchemor_ , Ultra Magnus' condition had improved enough for Optimus Prime to groundbridge over and talk to his friend. During that time, Magnus had told Prime about Megatron's apparent return. Optimus took this news with feelings of fear and relief.

"Perhaps it is for the best." He spoke in his calm voice, "Despite our differences, a part of me still wishes to _pacify_ Megatron, not to extinguish his spark."

"Prime," Magnus' tone grew with frustration. "Megatron is a despicable, ruthless, unrelenting tyrant! It's because of _him_ that Cybertron is a _lifeless_ _husk_ depending on _us_ to find enough energon to return it to life!" Optimus closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he growled at his first lieutenant's comment. Ultra Magnus noticed this and calmed down a bit. "I… I'm _sorry_. I forgot, you two have… quite a _history_."

"Indeed…" Optimus sighed, "But I fear that the Megatron I once stood beside as a brother… _perished_ eons ago… the day he became a Decepticon."

Meanwhile, in the main hall, the others waited patiently for Fixit's report. As Cliffjumper grew restless, he noticed Goldbug come back from his quarters, igniting an idea in the red Autobot's head.

"So," Cliffjumper walked up to his twin brother and smiled smugly, "where've _you_ been, boss-bot?"

"Uh… Arcee and I were… practicing defense." Goldbug muttered awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah, _yeah_." Cliffjumper rubbed his chin, "Practicing _defense_ and stuff, yeah. Learn any new… _positions?_ "

"Shut up!" Goldbug pushed his brother back, earning the attention of an orange and black Autobot with a cy-gar in between his teeth from Omega Team.

"Hey! There is no room for infighting in the Autobots!"

"Who are you?" Goldbug had never seen this Autobot before, but he had a feeling he'd find out.

"I am-" The Autobot began, only to be cut off by another voice.

"Kick Off?" Arcee stood on the other end of the room. Both she and Kick Off stared at each other dumbfounded. Finally, wide grins appeared on their faces as they ran over and brought themselves into a tight hug.

"I-I didn't know you were here!" Kick Off laughed as the pink Autobot looked up at him.

"I thought I'd never _see_ you again!" Arcee cried a little as she continued to hug this 'bot. However, she soon noticed that the others were staring, so they both decided to elaborate. "After Springer rescued me from Jhiaxus and the Insecticons," Arcee began, "he took me to the closest Autobot outpost in the system where I could recover: Garrus-9" Kick Off continued from there, "After that, I met up with the two of them and helped to carry her to the medical lab. And since she told me that her maker and molder had been killed in her kidnapping, I took it upon myself to raise her as my _own_ mold."

"So, you're Kick Off, the Action Master?" Hound walked up to the older 'bot.

"Yes," Kick Off answered, "Do you know _why_ I am called this?"

"You were a guard on Garrus-9 when the Decepticon general, Overlord, attacked and freed all of the prisoners. When that happened, they captured all of the other guards and forced you to fight each other for entertainment. And when they put you against your conjunx endura, you refused to fight, prompting Overlord to transform into his tank-mode and kill her, himself."

"And on that day," Kick Off's face twisted into a scowl, "I tore out my own transformation-cog, swearing to never transform again. Alt-modes are for _wimps_. And one day, I will find Overlord again, and make him pay for what he did to my brothers."

"How could you possibly remember all the people you-" Cliffjumper started before being cut off by the Autobot guard.

"Fortress Maximus, Fastlane, Vroom, Cloudraker, Rollout, Sprocket, Skyfall, Jackpot, Turbofire, Windbreaker, Over-run… Software." Kick Off looked down at that last name, indicating it was his conjunx endura. "He made me kill them _all_ but _her_ … then he killed her right in _front_ of me… For every _drop_ of innocent energon he poured onto my hands, I'll spill a _gallon_ of his!" Arcee placed a hand on Kick Off's shoulder as silence filled the entire room. Finally, Optimus Prime emerged from the medical wing.

"Autobot's, Ultra Magnus has presented me with the most startling news: Megatron is _alive_." The Autobots gasped in horror at Prime's words. "Which would lead us to assume that the Decepticons will try to come to this planet. Which is why I am going to make arrangements with this world's government to set up a detention facility on Earth's sister planet, Mars. However, we will need to elect an Autobot to be the Commissioner of this station. Elections will start immediately." The Autobots looked around at each other, wondering who would be the best choice for the Commissioner.

"OPTIMUS! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE IT!" Perceptor burst into the room, prompting everyone to stare awkwardly. "Um… is this a bad time?"

"No," Optimus answered, "please, go on."

"Well, do you remember those five bodies forged from Decepticons that Ultra Magnus and the others found?" Optimus looked at the scientist in silence. "Okay, stupid question. Well, I've been do a little reverse-engineering, and I hypothesize that by extracting samples of specific Autobot sparks, I could create five new Autobots for us! That gives us _that much_ of an advantage!"

"Very well, Perceptor," Optimus smiled, "but which Autobots are needed?"

"This is a very tricky procedure, Optimus. If what I have hypothesized is _true_ , they will only accept certain chemical formulas of certain sparks. I thought _ahead_ , fortunately, and I have a list of Autobots who would be acceptable. Myself, Ironhide, Firestar, and Arcee."

"Me?" Arcee reacted with a slightly nervous crack in her tone. "But, I can be a bit… _violent_ , Perceptor. Are you sure?"

"Fortunately, I thought that far ahead, as well." Perceptor went on. "I do not plan to use your spark _alone_. I have a theory that if I were to combine your spark sample with a spark sample from _Goldbug_ , his past insecurities may act as a ballast, creating a split-spark that will be suitable for _two_ of the bodies… that is if you are willing?"

Goldbug and Arcee looked at each other for a moment before they both smiled and nodded. Yet they both jumped in surprise when they heard Kick Off raise his voice.

"Wait a nano-sec… you mean to tell me that you're going to combine _this_ 'bot's spark with the spark of Arcee's to create _two more_ sparks?!" Kick Off looked back at the Autobot couple who were now shivering in fear. "And you two are going to go along with it?! Do you know what this _means?!_ " Arcee and Goldbug closed their eyes, expecting the worst, only to be brought into a death-grip hug as Kick Off laughed happily. "I'M GOING TO BE A GRAND-MAKER!"

"You're… you're _okay_ with this, sir?" Goldbug smiled slightly.

"Of course, Goldbug," Kick Off put the 'bot's down. "Arcee is her own femme, now. I trust her judgment, and she seems to trust _you_ , so… I guess I do, too." Kick Off extended his hand, which Goldbug enthusiastically took before Kick Off brought him in closer. "But if you hurt her in any way, I'll rip your voice box out, capisce?"

"Capisce." Goldbug murmured nervously.

A little later, in Goldbug's quarters, Minerva was extracting a sample of Arcee's spark, and then Goldbug's. She placed the samples inside of an odd container, which spun around until the samples merged into one. Finally, the samples formed a large spark, which almost immediately split into two sparks. Minerva left the room, leaving Goldbug and Arcee alone with two of the forged bodies. One had the build of a femme with an alt-mode altered to resemble a race car, while the other had the build of a mech with an alt-mode similar to a motorcycle.

"Y'know," Goldbug smirked, "Kick Off was right, this does kinda make use maker and molder. I want to name the mech."

"But, I wanna name the mech!" Arcee and Goldbug stared at each other for a while before settling the argument with rock, paper, scissors. Goldbug lost, much to Arcee's amusement. "The mech's name is… Afterburner."

"Okay…" Goldbug looked at the red femme before him who would soon be his mold. "She looks like a _Lightspeed_ to me." After naming their 'bots, Arcee placed one spark into the mech, while Goldbug placed the other into the femme. For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, the mech sprung to life and started punching everything around him. The femme came to life, and narrowly ducked one of her brothers' blows.

"Mellow _out_ , dude!" she said with her hands up in defense.

"Says _who?!_ I'm raring to burn _rubber_ , burn _gas_ , burn _bad guys_ , and see some _heavy action!_ "

As the two newly born 'bots bickered, Arcee looked over at Goldbug, who sighed in a tone of annoyance and disbelief. "Great. Just _great_. We just artificially created two _teenagers_."

* * *

 **To be continued!**


	8. What Are You Afraid Of?

**Chapter 6: What Are You Afraid Of?**

* * *

Goldbug and Arcee sat down and watched as their make and mold bickered at each other back and forth. The make, Afterburner, was going on, violently, about how they needed to hurry up and kill something. The mold, Lightspeed, on the other hand, felt they need to take their time to make rational decisions. The argument continued for what felt like an eternity, with neither 'bot seeming to notice the other two 'bots in the room. Finally, Arcee stood up and walked over to the new 'bots. She picked both of them up by their necks and slammed their heads together, letting them fall to the ground. As the two red 'bots rubbed their heads, Goldbug walked up to Arcee's side.

"Hey, was that _really_ necessary?" Goldbug raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"I was _aggravated_." Arcee breathed through her teeth.

"Who the _hell_ are you two?" Afterburner grunted, still rubbing his head.

Goldbug was about to call himself a maker, but he held his breath. He rubbed his chin as he pondered whether Cybertronian terms mattered on other planets. He shrugged to himself and put his arm around Arcee. "I'm Goldbug. I'm your _father_. This is Arcee. She's your _mother_." Arcee looked confused for a moment, but chose not to argue with Goldbug's choice of words. "Your names are Afterburner and Lightspeed. You two were made from Decepticon parts, but we used our sparks to make you a second generation of Autobots."

"We're confused…" Lightspeed scratched her head.

"Okay, the Decepticons are the _bad guys_. And we, the _Autobots_ , are trying to stop them." Goldbug replied to his creations, who were still confused.

"Okay, let's go and meet your fellow Autobots." Arcee helped the two 'bots off the ground. "We'll give you a full orientation of what's happening." The four robots stepped out of Goldbug's quarters to find the rest of the Autobots gathered around the other three Nebulan-made robots. One was a jittery mech with wings on his back, another was a taller mech with large missile launchers on his forearms, and the third was a femme with a drill on her back. Afterburner and Lightspeed stood beside the other three as Perceptor introduced them to the rest of the Autobots.

"Autobots… I am proud to introduce our newest sub-faction: the _Technobots!_ "

"YAHOO!" The mech with wings jumped up, excitedly, "It feels _great_ to be a Technobot! It feels great to be an _Autobot!_ Heck, it just feels _great!_ MY NAME'S STRAFE!" In that instant, Strafe smacked one of his wings on Afterburner's back, earning him a punch to the head from the motorcycle-bot.

"Far _out!_ Fan- _tastic!_ I'm _Afterburner!_ And you'd better watch out when you're around me, 'cause there's _nothing_ that won't set me off!" By this time, the femme with the drill placed her hand on Afterburner's shoulder as she spoke rather slowly.

"Calm _down_ , Afterburner. My name is Nosecone, I think long and hard about what to and not to do, using math and science to determine the best possible outcome, and I honestly don't think violence can lead to anything other than _more_ violence."

"Sounds good to _me_ …" Afterburner muttered to himself as he crossed his arms.

"Cancel that negativity, Afterburner," the tallest Technobot spoke in a thick southern accent, "I'm sure we'll learn to get over each other somehow, or my name isn't Scattershot."

"I'm down with _that_."

"And who're _you?_ "

"They call me _Lightspeed_ , faster than a speeding photon!"

"Well, I'm glad you've all met," Perceptor cut in, "but perhaps we should start your training _right away_."

"TRAINING?!" Strafe jumped off of the ground as if Afterburner had done nothing, "If we train then we get to fight bad guys! And that's good, because we're the good guys! And good guys are supposed to fight the bad guys, because bad guys are bad, and that's not good! LET'S GO!" Strafe leapt into the air, transformed into his jet-mode, and flew out of the _Alchemor_ into the scrap yard.

"Hey, wait for _us_ , you idiot!" Afterburner transformed into his motorcycle-mode and left a trail of burnt tar as he sped after the flying Technobot.

"Afterburner, don't just- _errgh!_ " Lightspeed transformed into her racecar-mode to catch up with her brother.

"Yee-haw! This is gonna be _fun!_ " Scattershot almost transformed, when Nosecone stopped him.

"Scattershot, wait! Now, I'm just as excited as the _rest_ of you to train, but I think, perhaps, we should take our time to allow our makers and molders to come with us instead of-" Nosecone stopped talking at the sound of Scattershot turning into a tank to follow the other Technobots. "… rushing in _half-cocked_." Nosecone muttered to herself before transforming into a mobile drill, slowly following her comrades.

Most of the other Autobots snickered at the spark donors while Perceptor just crossed his arms and shook his head as he looked at Goldbug, Arcee, Firestar, and Ironhide.

"What's _that_ look for?" Ironhide grunted.

" _I_ create another _scientist_ … _you four_ create _children_."

* * *

Outside the _Alchemor_ , Spike was helping Carly walk back to the house when they were almost run over by a car and a motorcycle. Spike tried to bring Carly closer to him, but the wind from the rushing vehicles knocked him down. He jumped back up, confused and angry.

"What is going on?!" Spike yelled as he went back to Carly. "I don't know who you idiots are, but this is private property! If you're only here to cause trouble, then I'm calling the cops! I want your names! I want your licenses! I want- wait where are your _drivers?_ "

At that moment, Afterburner, Lightspeed, and Strafe transformed in front of the startled couple. The three Technobots looked down on the humans in awe. They had been born for less than an hour, but they were certain that this would be the weirdest thing they would ever see. Their optics scanned their basic structure, down to the molecular level, wondering how any living being could be made out of such soft material.

Goldbug, Arcee, and the others finally caught up with the Technobots and properly introduced them to the Witwickys. Spike and Carly were awestruck. They had known the Autobots for less than a month, yet they often forgot that they knew so little about their culture, their science, or their biology. They would never have even guessed that Cybertronians could reproduce.

"Wow," Spike said to Goldbug as the Technobots rejoined their respective parents to begin training. "So, the motorcycle and the car, they're _your_ kids?"

"Afterburner and Lightspeed, yes, they are." Goldbug looked back at his creations as he knelt down to hear his best friend.

"Well, congratulations, man." Spike pat him on the back, when Goldbug suddenly got a call on his communicator.

"Goldbug, we have a bloody situation!" Fixit spoke as calmly as he could. Goldbug groaned with frustration. It was bad enough that Afterburner and Lightspeed had no clue about what was happening, but now, they wouldn't have him to help them. After a short while, Goldbug entered the main room to find Fixit waiting for him. "We have detected an anonymous signal near the energon mine. Somebody needs to investigate. If I may say, this appears to be a rather sticky wicket!"

"Why are you talking like that?" Goldbug raised an eyebrow.

"I like it. It makes me feel… _distinguished_."

* * *

A few hours later, Goldbug found himself creeping through the woods near the dig site. The further he went, the worse he felt. Just today, he had helped Arcee to create what would be like children to them, and now she would get all of the fun of training them to herself. But he still had a job to do. Fixit had always been like a second maker to him and Cliffjumper, so if he felt it was important, Goldbug wasn't going to argue.

As he came to the clearing, Goldbug froze when he saw a group of six Vehicons near the mine. Goldbug always felt creeped out by the sparkless machinations, they may just be artificial intelligences with bodies, but they imitated emotions as if they were alive. Throughout the war, the Vehicons were used as foot soldiers, security guards, and even suicide bombers. But what frightened Goldbug the most was that this group had a familiar black and red color scheme with _spikes_ on their shoulders and heads.

Goldbug stepped forward and pointed his rifle in their general direction. As he was about to fire, he felt something drip onto his shoulder. His eyes widened as he slowly looked upward, coming face-to-face with a giant mechanical bat. After Goldbug stumbled out of the woods, the bat dropped down and transformed. This Decepticon was tall and slender, with long wings folded behind his back. He stared at Goldbug through a red visor as he cackled wickedly.

"You Autobots have lived among these humans. You share several traits with them. Their capacity for pain. Their desire to stay alive. But what I love _most_ … are your _fears_ …" The Decepticon's visor glowed brightly and sent a beam of light into Goldbug's eyes.

"Fixit!" Goldbug screamed into his communicator as he rubbed his eyes. "I need immediate back up!" Goldbug fell to the ground as his eyes still burned. Upon hearing the Autobot call for back up, the Vehicons dropped the energon they had and sped away, but the Decepticon with the visor just stood over Goldbug and laughed as the Autobot quivered with fear.

* * *

Goldbug opened his eyes, finding himself back at the Witwickys' salvage yard. As he walked towards the _Alchemor_ , pillars of flames erupted from the ground. When he finally reached his base, he gasped in horror to see the ship was completely destroyed. Wheeljack and Fixit were skewered by the hull of the ship, Cliffjumper and Hound had been severed in half by one of the ship's wings, and the shadows of Arcee, Lightspeed, and Afterburner were burned into the ground. Goldbug fell to his knees as he cried in fear and sadness. His family was dead and he let them die.

"Primus…" he begged. "Don't let this be _true_ … please! Is there anyone who can help me?!"

" _We're_ here for you big guy!" Goldbug turned around and thanked the heavens above.

"Spike! Carly! Buster! Alexis! My _pals!_ " Goldbug cheered as he hugged his human friends. Unfortunately, his sadness returned when he heard four distinct snapping noises. "NO! Guys, I-I'm _sorry!_ Please, don't leave me!" But it was too late; Goldbug had crushed his friends to death. As the gilded Autobot knelt down, he looked up to see his hero walk through the flames and look down on him in disappointment.

"You have _failed_ , Goldbug." Optimus' voice echoed around the crying Autobot. "I chose you to lead this team, and _look_ at what you have allowed to happen. You are not _fit_ for command. You are not _worthy_ to be a leader. You are a _disgrace_."

* * *

"Goldbug! Can you hear me?" Fixit snapped his fingers in front of his commander's face. Goldbug's eyes had gone from their usual blue to a bright red as he looked up to one of his closest allies. "Oh, _jolly good!_ You're awake! We got here just a few moments ago when after we got your distress call. The Decepticon retreated back into the mine, but I managed to get a good look t him. Pulling up files now… Ah! He's called Mindwipe. A former psychiatrist and current Decepticon sadist. Mindwipe is known for his unique ability to emit a frequency of light through his visor that penetrates the cerebral processor. This causes his victims to experience that which they're most afraid of, all the while he places the victim in a catatonic state by manually disabling their brain module. Ha! Hence the name, Mindwipe!"

Fixit ceased his prattling when he saw Goldbug holding his knees close to his chest. "He did it to you, didn't he?" Goldbug looked up to the medic with dilated pupils. "What did you see?"

"I… I saw _Optimus_. H-he… he said that I _failed_ … that he's _disappointed_ in me."

"That is _rubbish!_ " Fixit assured his quivering commander as he helped him up. "Optimus hand-picked you to lead this team! It's because of _you_ that we formed an alliance with this planet! He's _proud_ of you!"

"And how do you know that?" Goldbug asked with a crack in his voice.

"Because… because… because _I'm_ so proud of you." Fixit placed a comforting hand on Goldbug's shoulder. For a moment, Goldbug calmed down enough to start breathing steadily, until Fixit's communicator went off.

"FIXIT! HELP US! OH, PRIMUS! MAKE IT STOP! NOOOOO!"

Fixit and Goldbug looked at one another in horror at the screams of the entire team.

* * *

Arcee found herself strapped to a table, with solid steel clamps holding her down. Drills and saws were only a few feet above her as four dark figures revealed themselves.

"Hello, Arcee! Arcee, Arcee, Arcee. Did you miss us? Us, us, _us!?_ Hehehehehe!"

"We missed _you!_ This lab just hasn't been the _same_ without you!"

"I look forward to feeling my way through your mind once more, you lovely femme!"

The Insecticons cackled cruelly as saliva dripped from their mandibles onto the poor young Autobot. Finally, Jhiaxus activated the surgical devices and dug into Arcee's chest. The pink Autobot screamed in pain and horror as she saw her spark being lifted out of her.

* * *

Meanwhile, everywhere Cliffjumper looked, Cybertronians backed away from him in fear.

"What's wrong with you people? What are you afraid of!?" he yelled as he reached out to them with his arms. But to his shock, he had no arms, only various deadly weapons. With tears welling in his eyes, Cliffjumper shook his head as his arms began to lock onto random targets and mowed them down like wheat in a field. It finally happened; he had become a living weapon.

* * *

Hound loved earth. He loved how much softer the terrain was than Cybertron's. He enjoyed hanging out with Alexis as they walked through the woods, or when they went swimming in Evansville's lake, or when they'd just lay down on the soft grass and look up at the planet's beautiful sky. But to his surprise, the sky turned sickly gray and began to rain. As Hound got up, he trembled as the woods began to quickly rot away, turning into a black dust as the rain fell. The dust blew into the lake, causing it to turn into a disgusting pool of black death. The water rose, surrounding the big Autobot, and dragging him down to his doom.

* * *

Fixit and Goldbug crept through the energon mines, following the screams of their comrades. Goldbug was still shaken by what he had seen. Even in the reflections on the energon crystals, he could see Optimus' disappointed face, staring him down, saying what a failure he was. Finally, Fixit told Goldbug to stay where he was so that the medic could resolve this whole situation. As Fixit walked away, Goldbug peaked around the corner to get a good view.

Fixit snuck up behind the Decepticon, ready to knock him aside the head. Unfortunately, Fixit stepped on an empty energon cube, alerting Mindwipe of his presence. With a swift motion from his wing, Mindwipe knocked Fixit onto the ground and prepared his visor.

"Why are you doing this?!" Fixit was disgusted to see his friends struggling on the ground as they screamed in horror.

"I realize it is an _inconvenience_ …" The Decepticon shrugged apathetically, "but one does what one _must_ to obtain the information one _needs_ for his experiments to continue. I am going to show everyone that they must face their fears. Whether they _like it_ or _not_."

"I'm a bloody _medic!_ " Fixit fumed angrily, "I _already_ face my fears every _day!_ Worrying that I will make the wrong move! Watching my patients' life slip through my fingers! Your visor isn't going to work on me, you stupid bugger!"

"Well, that's… _unfortunate_." Mindwipe sighed as he pulled a scythe from his back. Fixit's eyes widened as the sadistic 'bot lifted the sharp blade, expecting it to remove his head. Fortunately, a laser blast struck Mindwipe in the chest, forcing him back. Goldbug shivered as he stepped closer. The visions of Optimus still flooded his mind. Mindwipe laughed as he could see the effects of his visor was still hurting his victim.

Goldbug begged for none of this to be real. Crying, weeping, and praying that his leader would never say such horrible things. Looking up, Goldbug could see his team struggling on the ground. This made him wonder how Optimus could condemn him for their deaths when they were still alive. In that instant, Goldbug clenched his fist, slid his mask onto his face, and stood firmly in front of the vision of Optimus.

"Optimus Prime would _never_ blame _anyone_ for something they didn't do! I'm _not_ afraid! I'm an _Autobot!_ And _nothing_ scares an Autobot! I am an Autobot! I am a _leader!_ I am Goldbug!" The Autobot lieutenant's righteous yell echoed throughout the mine, dissipating the vision. Mindwipe was awe struck as he saw the 'bot's eyes go from red back to blue.

"Impossible!" The Decepticon was shocked. " _No one_ can fight my frequency!" Mindwipe fired another blast at Goldbug, only for the Autobot to raise his arm. The gilded armor reflected the blast back at Mindwipe, blinding him momentarily. When Mindwipe opened his eyes again, he shook in terror. The Autobot in front of him radiated with a red aura, his horns grew longer as he stepped forward, retracting his mask to reveal sharp fangs. Finally, as the Autobot got close enough, a blood-curdling scream escaped Mindwipe's mouth. As he turned to run, orange knuckles struck him in the jaw, sending him to the floor.

Kick Off rubbed his hand as he stood over the Decepticon's body. Jazz and Strongarm helped the others to their feet as Fixit went back to Goldbug.

"Do you see, now, Goldbug. You weren't scared!"

"Are you kidding?!" Goldbug exclaimed as the rest of his team came over to him. "I was _terrified_ … of losing you guys." The team smiled and brought their leader in for a tight hug. Kick Off carried Mindwipe over his shoulder as he came over to the team.

"Good news," He smiled, "while you guys were away, Prime tallied up the votes. You're looking at the _new_ and _improved_ … _Commissioner_ Kick Off!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in an abandoned automobile factory, the six vehicons went to one end of a large table, facing a shrouded figure at the other end.

"Well," the dark figure questioned, "where's the energon? Come to think of it… where's _Mindwipe?_ "

"Uh, sorry, boss," the vehicon with three spikes on his scalp spoke nervously, "some Autobots showed up and we had to _split_. But, I managed to swipe _this_. The memory board to the drill's main console. It has a complete log of how much they've got, and how much is left in the mine."

The vehicon slid the computer board to his boss, who quickly stopped it with his forefinger.

"I know it's not _much_ but-"

"It's not _much_ … it's _nothing_ …" the dark figure crushed the memory board under his fist, causing five of the vehicons to shudder. " _Losers_ … all of you! A disgrace to the name _Stunticon_. Why, with _my_ team-"

"WITH YOUR TEAM!?" The biggest vehicon roared in anger. "Ever since Galvatron assigned us to work for you, it's been 'your team' this and 'your team' that! Your team is somewhere _else_ , old man!"

"Ah, brave new world… that has such _sparkplugs_ in it."

The large vehicon turned to his comrades, beginning to sway them to his side. "He's got us running around, ripping up energon mines, but the Autobots just _happen_ to show up before we get to bring any of it back! He won't tell us what his plan is, if he even _has_ one! I. Want. OUT!"

"If you _insist_ …" the dark figure chuckled as pointed a blaster in the vehicon's face, sending fear through all six of them.

"H-hey, man," the big vehicon smiled weakly. "t-take it easy, huh? I-I was just _kidding_ …" the vehicon flinched as he heard the trigger being pulled. But he opened his eyes when he realized that nothing had happened.

"So was _I_ … Hehehehehe…"

The six vehicons sighed with relief, for a moment, they thought the rumors about their boss were nothing. Until the blade under the blaster's barrel shot through the big vehicon's head, sending the other five huddling together in fear.

"Oops… no I _wasn't_." Wildrider stepped out of the shadows, revealing his sinister smile to the remaining vehicons. "That's _also_ how we do it on _my_ team." Wildrider circled his sparkless minions as they imitated shock. "Y'know kids, when Galvatron lent you all to me, I thought: 'Ooh! My own little army to play with! I might not even _kill_ some of you!' But, I want you to know… I _really_ need your help. Things have _changed_ for your old, uncle Wildrider…changes in _planet_ … changes in _motives_ … even changes in _Bumblebee_ … I need to know you're with me. Won't you _say it_ for me just _one_ time?"

"We're with you…" they weakly replied.

"Little _louder_ , please…"

"We're with you…"

"That's better! Now, you kids should get some rest! Tomorrow is when the fun _really_ begins! Hehehehehehehe!"

* * *

 **To be continued!**

 **Introducing:**

 **Jim Cummings as Afterburner**

 **Jennifer Hale as Lightspeed**

 **Sigourney Weaver as Nosecone**

 **Richard Ian Cox as Scattershot**

 **Jim Carrey as Strafe**

 **Martin Jarvis as Fixit**

 **John Noble as Mindwipe**


	9. Skywarp's Plan!

**Hey, everybody! So, I've decided that since most of my chapters are about the Autobots, I'll give you a Decepticon-centered chapter! For this chapter, picture Skywarp as a purple and black version of Armada Starscream. Enjoy!**

* * *

"This map has been one of my most valuable assets, Skywarp." Galvatron spoke to the purple seeker. After he had killed Starscream, Galvatron had appointed the traitorous seeker's twin brother as his military lieutenant. "This map was written out by Megatronus as a means to map out the remaining traces of dark energon throughout the universe."

"Megatronus?" Skywarp followed his master closely as they traveled through the asteroid belt just beyond the planet Mars. "The Fallen Prime, himself? Your namesake?" At Skywarp's last comment, he received a back-handed blow from his master.

"I _told_ you never to bring that up again!" Galvatron snarled as he gripped the holo-map, tightly. "As Megatron, I was foolish and careless! I failed to carry out our mission of creating a Cybertron were everyone is _equal!_ Now, I have the chance to redeem myself! But I will _not_ be reminded of the part of me that was a failure! Do I make myself _clear?_ "

" _Crystal_ , my master…" Skywarp trembled under the weight of Galvatron's voice.

"Good, now…" Galvatron calmed down as they approached a large asteroid. "Yes! According to this map, this asteroid will provide us with enough dark energon to make me as strong as Unicron's titan, Trypticon!"

"Far be it from me to question your judgment, mighty Galvatron," Skywarp looked upon the barren surface of the asteroid with a perplexed stare. "But, I don't see _any_ dark energon on this asteroid."

"Not _on_ ," Galvatron raised his fusion cannon at the heart of the asteroid and unleashed an immense amount of energy. " _IN!_ " Galvatron cackled as Skywarp doubled back from the blasts shockwaves. Galvatron levitated closer as the smoke began to clear, but to the Decepticon's frustration, there was nothing but empty debris floating around in the infinite vastness of space.

"Uh… okay," Skywarp flew closer to his angered master, "I don't see any dark energon _in_ this asteroid." He witnessed Galvatron study the holo-map over and over again until the Decepticon leader wondered aloud why the dark energon was not there. "If I may be so _bold_ , master?" Galvatron craned his head in Skywarp's direction. "You said that that is a map of the universe, written out by _Megatronus_ , one of the _first Thirteen Primes?_ " Galvatron had now rotated his entire body at the purple seeker. "Is it not true that, since then, the universe has been consistently _expanding_ and _changing?_ "

Galvatron's eyes widened as his jaw dropped open. Skywarp was right! In a moment of blind fury, Galvatron crushed the map in his hand and threw it into deep space. Skywarp watched in slight amusement as Galvatron flew from asteroid to asteroid, reducing the massive space debris into rubble. Finally, Galvatron levitated, motionless, as his chest heaved in and out violently.

"Soundwave?" Galvatron activated his com-link. "Get me the Stunticons, harvesting energon on Earth is now our top priority."

"As you command, Galvatron."

"Primus help me…" Galvatron rubbed his brow in annoyance as he spoke to himself. "Do I not have _anything_ of any use to me?"

"Well, you still have me, don't you?" Skywarp lifted his chin as he spoke to his master.

"Humph." Galvatron snorted at the seeker's cocky tone. "That's true, but do I really _trust_ you?"

Galvatron transformed into his Cybertronian jet mode and left a stunned Skywarp to dwell on his master's last words. "…No…" Skywarp muttered to himself, "… I guess you don't…"

* * *

Back on the _Nemesis_ , Skywarp found himself in the mess hall, chugging cube after cube of synthetic energon. It may not have been anywhere _near_ as good as the real stuff, but he needed something to drown out his sorrows. After Starscream's death, Skywarp believed that he would no longer be subjected to the humiliation of being compared to his traitorous brother. Ever since he joined the Decepticons, Skywarp shared the blame for Starscream's countless blunders, without gaining any recognition for his exemplary battle prowess. Even before the war, Skywarp fought in the slaughter pits, the dreaded gladiatorial arenas of Tarn. It was there that Skywarp became a master swordsman, using his teleportation abilities to blast and slice his way to victory.

Although, there was one Decepticon who was just as skilled in the art of swords as he was; Bludgeon. Bludgeon was always favored by Megatron over Skywarp. Bludgeon used scare tactics to catch his enemies off guard, before skewering them mercilessly. However, Bludgeon tricked the other Decepticons into believing that his mask had magic powers of death. In truth, he placed bombs on his opponents and activated them through a remote control in his sword. This status earned him a high position in Megatron's army, before the leader's apparent demise encouraged the self-proclaimed "Master of Metalliko" to start his own Decepticon Empire somewhere else in the universe.

Skywarp had hated him from the start.

"YOU'RE THE REASON WE HAD TO RUN FROM THOSE PUNY NEBULANS!"

Everyone in the mess hall turned their heads to see two Predacons, Divebomb and Rampage, pushing each other back and forth as they bickered. This pulled Skywarp out of his depression and actually put a smile on his face. This was going to be fun.

"If you had enough ball bearings, we could've killed those Nebulans before they could defile our Decepticon brothers!" Rampage growled as he squatted down into a pouncing position.

"Well maybe we could've killed the Nebulans anyway if _somebody_ didn't try shooting his gun with _big rusty claws!_ " Divebomb began to foam at the mouth.

"What did you say, punk?!"

" _Big. Rusty. Claws!_ "

"Well, these claws ain't just for attractin' femmes!"

"Bring it on, pussy cat! Bring it on!"

Rampage transformed into his tiger-mode and began to lash out at Divebomb, who in turn transformed into his vulture-mode. As Rampage dug his claws and fangs into Divebomb's chest, the winged Decepticon lifted both of them into the air, blowing the surrounding spectators away with powerful flaps of his wings. Skywarp laughed at the absurdity of his cohorts as they foolishly stumbled around the mess room, bashing into their fellow Decepticons. Skywarp's laugh lasted until he saw the duo headed straight towards him.

On instinct, Skywarp mentally activated his personal trans-warp generator and teleported to the nearest safe place. Unfortunately, that safe place was somewhere in the _Nemesis'_ ventilation system. Skywarp mumbled to himself as he crawled through the narrow shaft, waiting for his generator to re-charge. Suddenly, he heard voices coming from an open vent. He peered through to see Galvatron speaking with the Stunticons via holo-messaging.

"What do you _mean_ 'Mindwipe got himself captured'?!" Galvatron's voice bellowed so loudly, it nearly cracked the window in quarters.

"What did you expect?" Wildrider shrugged, "That guy always _drove me crazy!_ Hehehehehehehe!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Dragstrip snapped, "We need to be serious!"

"Geez, are you on your oil change or something, Dragstrip? You do seem a bit bulky!"

"Oy! Both of ye! Shut up, you bloody wankas!" Breakdown was now cutting in.

"Hoo _hoo!_ You _kill_ me, Breakdown! 'Wankas!'" Wildrider giggled. "Who else here bets he's just putting on that accent to sound scary?"

"SILENCE!" All of the Stunticons snapped their attentions back to their leader. "I assigned a task to you five, and I expect it to be done!"

"But, my lordship," Dead End calmly tried to ease his master's fury, "we are out-matched and out-gunned. We are doing our best to-"

"Your best is not _enough!_ If we do not get results soon, the other troops shall grow restless, and then they shall begin to ask questions, and then they will begin to think that I do not know what I'm doing! I want results! NOW!"

"It will be done, my lord." Motor Master ended the message with a whimper.

Skywarp was horrified. It was as if Galvatron didn't even speak in his real voice. But suddenly, Galvatron chuckled to himself. "Well, that ought to keep them distracted long enough. Time to go back to business."

Skywarp's eyes widened. Galvatron's voice _was_ different. And what he said, about keeping the Decepticons distracted, as if he didn't want them to succeed. As Skywarp continued to peer through the grate, he saw Galvatron pull out another holo-projector. This projector came with a list with fourteen items on it, yet one item was brighter than the others.

"The Matrix of Leadership… wielded by Optimus Prime. The only relic of the original Primes that anyone has cared to remember. But not the only one in existence. All I need is one. Just _one_. And then, I will find the Omega Lock, infect it with the dark energon that granted me with life, and fulfill my master's quest to destroy Primus! And then I'll- erragh!"

* * *

Suddenly, Galvatron was drawn inside his mind, flooded with memories of a time before the revolution. Back when he was Megatron and Optimus was Orion Pax. Despite the laws forbidding Orion from leaving Iacon, the two of them met frequently at Tarn's most popular oiling hole, Maccadam's Old Oil House, to discuss politics and tactics. However, on a few occasions, they would meet to better understand each other.

"I wanted to be a doctor." Megatron said, staring sadly into his cube.

"I beg your pardon?" Orion looked up from his assigned data-logs.

"When I was first created, I loved the idea of helping others and healing the sick. But I had the misfortune of being made with a tank-mode, _perfect_ for gladiatorial combat. And according to the _'honorable'_ Sentinel Prime, we aren't _allowed_ to take up a job that isn't related to what we _transform_ into."

Orion rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. Megatron's words had cut deep. The truth was, Orion had always dreamed of working in law-enforcement, keeping the streets of Iacon safe from criminals. Placing a hand on Megatron's shoulder, the archivist spoke to his ally with his calm and reassuring voice.

"Once we appeal to the high council, I will make _certain_ that you are allowed to follow your dream. Freedom is the right of _all_ sentient beings. I only hope that once we have succeeded in our mission, we can still remain friends."

"Of _course_ , Orion…" Megatron smiled at the young 'bot's optimism, "We'll _always_ be friends, Orion Pax… If not, _brothers_."

* * *

Galvatron slammed his fist onto his desk in anger. "You're trying to _confuse_ me! Do you honestly think _I_ hold any sentiment towards Optimus?! He was _your_ friend, not _mine!_ Besides, _you_ were the one who betrayed him, as memory serves. What? Do you have nothing else to say? Well, then you won't mind that I will share the details of our current situation with Optimus… the day I _rip out_ his _spark!_ " As Galvatron left his quarters, Skywarp fell through the grate, and onto the floor.

The purple Decepticon shivered in fear as he attempted to wrap his mind around what had just happened. Galvatron was talking to himself as though someone else was answering him, he was deliberately distracting the other Decepticons, and to top it off, he claims to be planning to infect Primus with dark energon. Even a basic vehicon knows that to destroy Primus is to destroy _Cybertron_.

"When Galvatron gets one of these relics," Skywarp thought to himself, "He'll ruin everything we've fought so long and hard for!" Skywarp continued to breathe heavily as he looked at the list when he suddenly recognized one of the items. The list cited it as Micronus Prime's Chimera Stone, possessing the ability to grant whoever can stand its awesome power a mini-con built in their image to grant them extra power. Suddenly, a wide grin appeared on Skywarp's face as his breathing returned to normal. " _But_ … if _I_ were to obtain one of these relics, I could find my way to the Omega Lock, and lead the Decepticons away from Galvatron's suicidal mission!" Acting hastily, Skywarp copied the list and set a little surprise for when Galvatron returned to his quarters. With his plan set in motion, Skywarp exited the _Nemesis_ and set off for the relic he had recognized. Even if it meant facing its owner: Bludgeon.

* * *

Bludgeon had set up his own Decepticon Empire on the fiery planet known as Lucifer. It was here that he would make deals and trades with countless bounty hunters of different species, earning energon, favors, or whatever else he desired. His ancient scare tactics and studies of the Cybertronian art of Metalliko made it very difficult to disagree with him or refuse his offer. It had been years since Bludgeon had come into any contact with Cybertronian life, but to his surprise, a sleek, purple and black jet zoomed in from the cosmos, and transformed into a familiar face.

"Bludgeon, old friend, it's good to see you!" Skywarp raised his hands in greeting before the skull-faced Decepticon lifted his sword at his neck.

"Spare me the false pleasantries, Skywarp," Bludgeon spoke in a cold voice, "just tell me what you want."

"Very well," Skywarp rubbed his hands together as he stared greedily at the Chimera Stone embedded in the hilt of Bludgeon's blade, "I want your sword." As Skywarp let the last word drop, everybody there turned their heads towards the teleporting seeker. Skywarp looked around and noticed that the bounty hunters began laughing as they repeatedly chanted two words.

"Slaughter pit. Slaughter pit. Slaughter pit! Slaughter pit! Slaughter pit! SLAUGHTER PIT! SLAUGHTER PIT! SLAUGHTER PIT!"

"If you want my sword, foolish one," Bludgeon chuckled through his mask, "then you shall have to _fight_ for it in… the SLAUGHTER PIT!"

Moments later, Skywarp and Bludgeon stared each other in the eye. The two Decepticons stood at opposite ends of the pit, listening to the cheers of the bounty hunting spectators as the announcer grabbed his microphone.

"Welcome to the Slaughter Pit! You both know the rules: there _are_ none! But in _this_ arena, whatever _I_ say goes! Now… let's get ready to rumblllllllllllle!"

Skywarp crossed his arms over his shoulders, unsheathing the two swords concealed in his wings. Activating his jets, the Decepticon seeker dashed at Bludgeon. With murder in his eyes, Skywarp lifted both of his swords up and slammed them down at his enemy. But to his shock, Bludgeon had already raised his sword, blocking Skywarp's blow. The Decepticon samurai swiftly retracted the sword and tapped Skywarp on the chest with his thumb. The purple seeker was flown into a wall, earning him a wave of laughter at his expense. Skywarp snarled as he stood back up and charged at his hated rival.

Bludgeon chuckled as he calculated every move Skywarp took, and narrowly avoided each of his blows. Bludgeon, remembering how much Skywarp hated him, began to taunt him to fuel his rage and make him sloppier.

"If this is how you still fight, Skywarp, it is no wonder Megatron favored me over you."

"Shut up!" Skywarp's scream could curdle the energon of every spectator in the arena.

"I remember, a very long time ago, we both swore an oath to Megatron. And we could never break that oath."

"He is gone! All that is left is Galvatron!"

"You _tried_ to gain favor from him, but nothing was ever _good enough_. No matter how many battles you fought, he always found _fault_. Then he saw how I executed every mission with _flawless_ tactics, and saw that I was a warrior of efficiency… unlike _you_."

"SHUT UP!" Bludgeon took advantage of Skywarp's rage. As Skywarp sped back at Bludgeon, the Decepticon samurai tripped him, placed a small bomb on his back, and knocked the swords out of his hands. Skywarp shuddered as he flipped over to find a sword at his throat. Bludgeon's laugh echoed throughout the arena as his eyes began to glow a sickly green.

"And now, _seeker_ ," Bludgeon placed his thumb on the detonator switch, ready to trick his followers once again, "I believe I will take this opportunity… to _scare… you…_ to _pieces!_ "

"No, Bludgeon, no!" Skywarp raised his arms as Bludgeon laughed, "Not like this! Not like this!" Skywarp's screams flooded the Slaughter Pit one last time before Bludgeon activated the detonator, causing a bright, purple, controlled explosion right in front of him.

Seeing that he was victorious, Bludgeon turned to his audience. "This is what happens when you try to defy me! Megatron, or Galvatron, or whoever he is, has _no_ place here! This planet belongs to Bludg-" at that moment, two swords split through the Decepticon samurai's shoulders. Bludgeon choked and coughed as the swords slowly moved upwards, completely removing his arms.

"You know, I recently learned that my teleportation abilities can make technology that doesn't belong to me act a bit screwy. Isn't _that_ a kick in the lug nuts ?"

"You?! But, I am your better in every way! I am better than you! I AM BETTER THAN YOU!"

Skywarp picked up Bludgeon's sword and ran the samurai through the abdomen, leaning close enough for Bludgeon to hear him. "Do you honestly think that I give a damn?"

Realizing he had succeeded, Skywarp pulled the Chimera Stone out of Bludgeon's hilt and cackled as it glowed in his palm. "You are an _idiot_ , Bludgeon! You had the power of a Prime and you turned it into a decoration! Now… it's _mine_. Hehehehehe! The power is _all mine!_ " The Stone began to glow brighter much to Skywarp's glee. "Yes! Scan my beautiful image! Give me what I deserve!" The glow became so bright that no one could see, until it finally dimmed down to reveal a small mini-con with wings standing in Skywarp's palm. "I shall call you 'Thunderclash!' I am going to bring about a new world order! A world for Decepticons, and _you_ , Thunderclash, you will _help_ me!" The mini-con pumped his arm into the air at Skywarp's words, joyfully bleeping at his new partner's enthusiasm. Skywarp activated a video feed and cackled as he saw what he did.

* * *

Galvatron's quarters exploded as he stepped through the door. Bolting back up, Galvatron rushed inside, demanding to know who was responsible. Suddenly, a holo-message opened up, revealing the purple seeker.

"Now, Galvatron, you will witness my power first-hand, as I turn it on Bludgeon! Come now, Thunderclash! Let us combine and show theses losers what _real_ power is!" Galvatron watched in shock through the video as the mini-con transformed and fused with Skywarp's back. Almost instantly, two massive cannons folded from the seeker's back onto his shoulders. A bright purple glow came from the cannons, as did a low hum. "I'll show you how pitiful I am! BEHOLD, THE WARP LASER CANNONS!" A purple beam erupted from Skywarp's shoulders, striking Bludgeon dead-center as he lay in the middle of the arena. The light engulfed everything for what felt like an eternity to the angered Galvatron. Finally, the light dimmed, leaving nothing but puddles of molten metal where the Slaughter Pit once was. The only sound that could be heard, was the sound of Skywarp's laugh. "Look at what I have done! My power is awesome! And with the Chimera Stone, I can find the Omega Lock! I will become the most powerful Decepticon in the universe! EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN GALVATRON! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh… we'll just see about _that_ , Skywarp." Galvatron breathed through his teeth.

* * *

 **To be continued!**

 **Starring:**

 **David Kaye as Galvatron**

 **Michael Dobson as Skywarp**

 **Ken Watanabae as Bludgeon**


	10. The Origin

**Chapter 8: The Origin**

* * *

Weeks had gone by since the creation of the Technobots. Goldbug and his team had spent the majority of that time training them to be the best soldiers that they could be. The Witwickys were generous enough to lend a small amount of their land to the Autobots to act as an obstacle course. For hours, the Technobots would do nothing but push their limits; lifting cars, hurdling over trucks, and countless transform-ups.

Eventually, the Technobots manifested their own unique abilities during moments of stress or shock. When Scattershot witnessed the _Alchemor_ about to fall onto his father, Ironhide, he dashed to his side and caught it easily. Scattershot had earned strength that was far greater than the average Cybertronian. Scattershot's own discovery led to Strafe's manifestation. When Scattershot had accidentally flung one of Spike's favorite cars into space, Strafe flew into the lower atmosphere without causing any damage to his exterior hull, and returned the car so that the others could fix it before Spike could even notice. Strafe was granted a higher level of endurance. Ironically, it was Afterburner's anger that caused him to manifest. Strafe and Lightspeed, annoyed with Afterburner's constant anger issues, resorted to purposely throwing trash at him until they accidentally caused a pile of non-fixable cars to fall on the orange and white Technobot. His anger became so intense, Afterburner's fists were set ablaze and he melted his way through the scrap. This also caused Lightspeed to manifest, as she was so frightened by Afterburner's wrath, she sped out of the entire State of Indiana at mach 2. Finally, when a freak accident caused a cave-in in the energon mine, Nosecone was able to find the survivors by "seeing" the energon inside of them.

Whenever they weren't training, the Technobots would hang around with the Witwickys, helping them with chores or playing games. Alexis was their favorite. She was the one who introduced them to literature, television, video games, and other pop culture that earth had to offer. That time spent together had created a unique bond between the human girl and her Cybertronian friends, as she often asked them for help on occasion. Most of the time, Decepticon activity wasn't very frequent, leaving the Autobots free to train or play without interruption.

Until today.

* * *

Goldbug woke up with a slight headache. He sat up on the floor, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to remember what happened. He and Arcee went to check on how Kick Off was holding up as the Commissioner on Mars at the new prison, Garrius-10, and then they met the rest of the Autobot police force: Sergeant Jazz, Cadet Strongarm, Officer Streetwise, Officer Groove, Officer Dealer, and Dr. Rung, the prison's psychiatrist. After the introductions, the couple went to Garrus-10's mess hall for a small party. As Goldbug remembered he must have had too much Engex, he smiled as he noticed Arcee sleeping peacefully beside him.

Goldbug brushed her face to wake her up, but to both of their surprise, an emergency alert roared throughout the entire facility. Arcee bolted up, and the young couple rushed to the Spacebridge. In no time at all, they found themselves with all of the other known Autobots at the _Ark_. No one could explain what was happening, but Optimus Prime stood completely still in the center of the room. His eyes were glowing a deep blue, as did a small circle under his chest. First Aid reported that he was alive, but was completely immobile. After several suspenseful minutes, Optimus nearly collapsed onto the ground, clenching his chest.

"Optimus!" Ultra Magnus helped his oldest friend up, "What happened?"

"I have just received a message through the Matrix…" Optimus stated.

"From who?" First Aid eagerly asked.

"The Master Archivist… my mentor… Alpha Trion…"

The entire room fell silent at the sound of Optimus Prime's last word. Alpha Trion was Optimus Prime's supervisor at Iacon's Hall of Records. It was from him that Optimus gained the historical evidence that the Primes had strayed away from the Thirteen's original plan, and led Cybertron down the path of tyranny. Not only that, but the Master Archivist, himself, petitioned to the High Council to make Orion the leader of the Autobots in order to stop Megatron.

Once everyone had settled down, Optimus stood before his troops and spoke in a tone of pure seriousness.

"My fellow Autobots, Alpha Trion has informed me that someone has taken possession of the Chimera Stone, a relic of the Thirteen. As such, the Matrix of Leadership has been activated to reveal the location of all the remaining three…"

"Three?" Goldbug raised his hand, "Only three relics for Thirteen Primes?"

"No, Goldbug," Optimus continued, "I suppose that in order for you all to fully understand the oncoming mission, I will have to explain it from the very beginning…"

* * *

In the beginning, there was Primus and Unicron, two powerful beings of unknown origin. One, an entity of creation, the other, of _destruction_. For millennia, Primus and Unicron battled each other, destroying everything in their path, until finally, Primus realized that if they kept fighting, they would destroy everything. In time, Primus formulated a plan to defeat Unicron once and for all.

Using a fraction of his very All-Spark, Primus brought about his first creation, Metroplex, a titan the size of an entire city. As Primus put his plan into motion, Metroplex battled Unicron in his master's place. But in time, Unicron was able to use his Anti-Spark to create a titan of his own, the terrible Trypticon. Just as Unicron did with Primus, Trypticon was able to fight Metroplex to a stalemate. Fortunately, Primus' plan was complete, using another fraction of his All-Spark, Primus had created the first Thirteen Original Primes.

Prima and Megatronus; the twin warrior Primes, Alpha Prime; the wisest Prime, Vector Prime; the master of time, Solus Prime; blacksmith of the Primes and the first female transformer, Onyx Prime; the feral Prime and creator of all beast-transformers, Micronus Prime; who could combine with his brothers to grant them more power, Maximo Prime; the trickster of the Primes, Amalgomus Prime; who could take any shape he desired, Nexus Prime; the first gestalt, Quintus Prime; the master of space, Alchemist Prime; student of the natural world, and finally, Optimist Prime; the peace-keeper of the Primes.

With each of them possessing a portion of Primus' All-Spark, the Thirteen were able to finally defeat Unicron and cast him out of our universe, seemingly forever. With his lifetime foe vanquished, Primus transformed into the world we now call Cybertron. But the millions of years of conflict had placed much strain on Primus' All-Spark, preventing him from providing any further life of Cybertron. Metroplex, Primus' first creation, knew what had to be done. Focusing all of his energy, the titan transformed himself into the first Cybertronian city, and transformed his S\spark into the Omega Lock. The Thirteen brought the Omega Lock to Primus' Well of All-Sparks, uniting the two and granting Primus the power to allow the Primes to expand their race.

For a time, the Thirteen and their descendants lived in harmony. But when there is free will, there is never a promise that harmony will last. Maximo Prime, jealous of the other Primes formulated a plan to destroy the others and lead Cybertron himself. Maximo scoured the universe, searching for any traces of Unicron, and found the dark celestial's very Anti-Spark. Maximo shattered the Anti-Spark, sending shards of dark energon throughout the galaxy. As Maximo returned to Cybertron, he put his plan into motion. Maximo realized that the only way to defeat the Primes was to turn another Prime against the rest, and eventually chose Megatronus.

Using his mastery of deception and trickery, Maximo fooled Megatronus into believing that the other Thirteen were plotting against the two of them. And while most say Megatronus joined Maximo instantly, in reality, it took several years for the trickster Prime to convince the warrior-twin Prime. Eventually Maximo's patience ran out, and he infected Megatronus with the dark energon. But to Maximo's shock, Megatronus vowed to kill all of the Primes and return Unicron to life. Maximo's plan had backfired, and begged Primus for forgiveness as his brother slaughtered him.

Using the portion of Unicron's Anti-Spark, Megatronus created the Dark Star Saber to rival the Star Saber of his brother, Prima. It was then that the downfall of the Primes began. Megatronus made haste in his plan, killing Alchemist and Quintus first. Next, he deliberately attacked and nearly killed Alpha in front of his brothers and sister, hoping for conflict. Onyx Prime reverted to his beast-mode and charged at Megatronus. Using his primal instincts, Onyx nearly subdued his corrupted brother, but Megatronus' strategic mind allowed him to out-maneuver, over-power, and kill Onyx. Micronus transformed and power-linked with Amalgomus, hoping to over-power Megatronus, but this only helped the evil Prime slaughter two Primes with one blow. Nexus Prime split into his five separate combiners, and hit Megatronus with everything he had. At first, it seemed Nexus would emerge victorious as he alternated between his separate components and his gestalt form. But in the end, he too lost his life.

Alpha Prime took Micronus' Chimera Stone and Nexus' Enigma of Combination to Metroplex's central hub, where he met his remaining brothers. Acting quickly, Prima, Solus, Optimist, and Alpha created an interface with the Omega Lock, preventing anyone from activating it without the Star Saber of Prima, the Forge of Solus, Nexus' Enigma of Combination, Micronus' Chimera Stone, and Optimist's Matrix of Leadership. When Megatronus arrived and found that he could not activate the Omega Lock, he was enraged. He quickly tore Solus to shreds, and allowed the dark energon to take complete control over his spark.

A great battle broke out between Megatronus and Prima over the possession of the necessary relics. Brother against brother, Prime against Prime, the battle raged on as their descendants looked on in fear. Eventually the dark energy emitting from Megatronus became too much for Prima, and he lost his life and his sword to Megatronus.

But before Megatronus could use the relics to open the Omega Lock and destroy Primus, Vector Prime created a rip in the fabric of reality and sent both of them into another dimension, but not before Megatronus threw his Dark Star Saber into Optimist's spark. Alpha recovered from his injuries with a terrible ache in his spark; his brothers were gone. Taking the five relics, Alpha Prime changed his name to Alpha Trion and used the Matrix of Leadership to choose who would lead Cybertron. But to prevent the remaining relics from falling into the wrong hands, Alpha Trion scattered them across the stars, hoping that one day, they would be used to aid Cybertron again.

* * *

"The other four relics were hidden throughout the universe. The remaining eight relics that belonged to the other Primes were destroyed along with them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands." Optimus finished his story and began to explain their mission. "The only way to find the other relics is to possess one. The Matrix of Leadership that once belonged to Optimist Prime shall serve as a map to find the remaining four relics and the Omega Lock. I am going to take the _Ark_ and I shall need many of you to come with me."

Every Autobot present was eager to join Optimus in his trip through the cosmos. They shouted over each other trying to explain why they should be the ones to go. Finally, Optimus raised his hands to silence everyone.

"We can't _all_ leave Earth," he explained. "Beta Team and Delta Team will stay here while everyone else shall come with me."

"But, Optimus!" Goldbug spoke up. He couldn't stand the idea of being left behind again. Ever since he was just Bumblebee, he was always ordered to remain at the base. Optimus Prime looked at his faithful soldier with understanding eyes and asked for him to follow him outside.

"Goldbug, I need you to understand something," Optimus kneeled down so that he could look into Goldbug's eyes. "Fixit told me about your experience with Mindwipe… I want you to understand that, all of those times that I ordered you to remain behind… it was never because I doubted you… It was because I needed to have someone I _trusted_ to be able to come to our aid, should the need arise. However, you are not a scout anymore, so this time; I shall not order you as your superior…" Optimus retracted his mask so that Goldbug could truly see his face, "but I shall _ask_ as a _friend_ … please stay, and protect this planet."

Goldbug stared in awe of his leader's words. For the first time, Goldbug truly felt as though he were being trusted. Optimus Prime's words had put a smile on the gilded lieutenant's face as he stood up straight and saluted the towering Prime before him. "You can depend on me, Optimus Prime."

* * *

 **To be continued!**


End file.
